Armor of the Gods
by Eareniel
Summary: Sequel to The Right Man: After Loki unexpectedly saves his life, Tony suddenly finds himself in a bizarre arrangement with the God of Mischief. There is an impossible challenge to solve and a mysterious conspiracy threatening his life, but mostly Tony just wants to figure out what the hell is Loki up to this time.
1. A Chance Encounter

**Armor of the Gods**

Summary: A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends. – Baltasar Gracian

After Loki unexpectedly saves his life, Tony suddenly finds himself in a bizarre arrangement with the God of Mischief. There is an impossible challenge to solve and a mysterious conspiracy threatening his life, but mostly Tony just wants to figure out what the hell is Loki up to this time.

Pairings: Tony/Loki, past Tony/Pepper

Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this story do not belong to me and I'm making no money off them. I just occasionally borrow them for my own nefarious purposes.

Author's Note: This is the sequel to my previous Avengers fic, The Right Man. You don't need to read the previous story to understand this one, but it will give you a better idea about Loki's motivations.

This fic is my attempt to write an Iron Man story that incorporates the events of both Thor and Captain America movies. It takes place a few years after the Avengers movie and ignores Iron Man 3 (though I borrowed a few elements from it). It will be very long (probably over 100K words) and focuses mostly on Tony's relationship with Loki. It is also a lot more **explicit** than my previous stories (both for sex and violence), so if you don't like that kind of stuff, turn back now.

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 1 – A Chance Encounter<strong>

Another night. Another party hosted by someone rich and important whom Tony probably knew but couldn't be bothered to give a crap about.

He tossed back another glass of scotch and leaned back against the bar, his eyes lazily scanning the crowd as he pretended to listen to whatever inane thing the woman on his right was trying to tell him. She was a classic Californian beauty – tan and blonde, with boobs you could use as a trampoline and grabby octopus arms that had so far managed to thwart each one of Tony's escape attempts.

The blonde pressed herself closer to his side, smushing her breasts against his arm to try and get him to look down her cleavage and Tony suppressed a sigh, mentally calculating the amount of time he would have to remain at the party before he could finally leave.

It wasn't that he didn't like blondes, he told himself as he subtly tried to rescue his arm out of her grip. It was just that she was so grabby and pushy and annoying and…not Pepper. And that was the key, wasn't it? Ever since Pepper had walked out on him a month ago, he'd had women (and sometimes men) throwing themselves at him left and right. Dozens of people flocking around him, drawn in by the glory of the Iron Man, all trying to get a piece of Tony Stark. If this had happened in his pre-Pepper days, he would have jumped at the opportunity, but now it all just felt incredibly hollow, the attention of the people as fake as their beaming smiles.

If he had to remain here for another hour, he might as well get plastered, Fury be damned. It had been the Director who had roped him into this, so let him deal with the PR nightmare that was a drunk-off-his-ass Tony Stark. He finally managed to slip from the grasp of the octopus lady and when she reached for him again, he gave her a hard look.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but you're really not my type. Maybe we can try this again when I'm more drunk and less choosy," he told her and watched with satisfaction as she stomped away on her six inch heels, no doubt to find the nearest gossip mag reporter and complain about his lack of manners. Predictable.

Tony turned back to the bar and signaled the barman, asking for a double whisky. This place was posh enough not to water the drinks down too much, so he felt fairly confident that he would be able to at least achieve a pleasant buzz before the whole thing was over.

He was on his third drink of the night when a familiar figure slid onto the seat next to him. Tony didn't need to look twice to know there would be trouble.

"Hello, Stark," Loki greeted, smirk firmly in place.

Tony almost did a double take when he realized that Loki was wearing a regular business suit instead of his Asgardian armor. There was a green scarf around his neck, breaking the black and white monotony, but otherwise he didn't look the slightest bit out of place among this gathering of the rich and powerful. It looked like he was trying to blend in tonight, which put Tony on instant alert. Outwardly he didn't move a muscle though, calmly sipping his drink.

"Aren't you supposed to be on Asgard? Getting eaten by ravens or chained in a dungeon or whatever medieval thing you guys do as a punishment?"

Loki's smirk widened. "As far as my jailors are concerned I _am_ on Asgard. Technically. But you of all people should know that no prison can hold me forever."

Tony nodded at the barman to bring him another glass. "What are you doing here? Come to kill me?" If he was going to get thrown out of a window again, he might as well enjoy the booze while he could.

"You don't seem very alarmed by my presence." The god gave him an assessing look. Tony shrugged.

"You're not terribly intimidating. Besides, I figured - if you really wanted to kill me, you would have done it already. Since we're in a public place and there is a suspicious lack of theatrics involved in this scenario, I assume you're here because you want something from me. What is it?"

"Actually, I'm here to warn you," Loki said, surprising him a little.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Really. This should be good."

Loki's gaze swept over the crowd. "There is someone here tonight who has been ordered to kill you. Unless you leave now, you will be dead in less than ten minutes."

Tony turned on his barstool to face Loki fully for the first time. "Why are you doing this?"

"I have my reasons."

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Oh, please, drop the mystery act. There has to be a reason for this. What do you get out of it? Even if what you say is true – which I doubt - it would be much easier for you to just let the assassin do your dirty work. Let him get rid of me for you."

Loki inclined his head. "It would be easy, truly, but not terribly interesting." He fixed Tony with a stare that seemed to permeate into his very bones. "Out of all the mortals I have met on this world, you are by far the most entertaining one. It would be a shame if you were to die prematurely."

"Really." Tony's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You'll excuse me if I don't particularly believe that. The last time we met, you seemed pretty happy to throw me out of a window."

He finished the last of his drink and slid down from the stool, nonchalantly making his way through the crowd. He rather felt than saw Loki slip after him, following a few inches behind.

"Yes, that was an…unfortunate incident."

Tony snorted. "Yeah, you can call it that. Why are you doing this again?"

"I have my reasons."

"You're not gonna tell me, are you?"

Loki gave him a smile full of teeth. "No."

They made it two floors down and into one of the side corridors leading to the entrance, which was suspiciously deserted. Tony shot the god a side glance. "Are you setting me up? Because if you are, you won't like what I will do to you once we're out of he- Whoa!"

He barely jumped out of the way of the blast that somebody shot at him from the other side of the corridor. Loki gave him an amused look.

"What did I tell you?"

"You can gloat later." Tony glued his back to the wall, his mind running a thousand calculations per minute as he pulled a miniature repulsor from his pocket and hastily started putting it together in his hand. "Let me get rid of them first. JARVIS, are you following?"

"You, sir? Always," the computer chimed in his ear.

"Awesome. Let's do this."

He rounded the corner with a sharp move, disposing of the two mooks before they could even press a trigger. The third nearly caught him by surprise but thanks to JARVIS s's timely warning he was able to dispose of him as well. When he turned back to Loki, he found the god leisurely propped against the wall, watching the fight with a small amused smile.

"You could help, you know," Tony couldn't help but remark. Loki's eyes glittered.

"Oh no, that would be too much hassle. I prefer to just watch. It's quite entertaining."

"Thanks for nothing, asshole," Tony gritted out as another guy in a mask rounded the corner and got thrown into a wall by a repulsor blast. "Where are they all coming from anyway? This is supposed to be a charity function, for fuck's sake." He shot another one. "Oh, this is getting ridiculous. Let's get out of here. JARVIS? Have my car meet me outside."

"Already done, sir."

"I knew I keep you around for a reason." He started to walk towards the exit but only managed to walk a few feet before he suddenly found himself with his back pressed against the wall, Loki standing only a few inches away.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the god whispered in his ear. "Unless you want a new hole in your forehead. From what I've seen, you mortals don't recover well from those."

It took Tony less than a second to spot the tell-tale red dot on the opposite wall. "A sniper?"

"I told you that there was an assassin here tonight. The men in the corridor were just a distraction to keep your attention away from the real threat."

Tony looked in dismay at the long corridor lined with high glass windows that stood between their hiding place and the exit. "How am I supposed to get away from here? The guy has a great view of the whole corridor." And, judging by the rapidly approaching footsteps from the direction they had come from, they were getting surrounded from all sides. Awesome.

Loki's hand reached down and wrapped a hand around his left wrist.

"Do you trust me?"

Tony shot the hand a glance before he looked back up at the god's face.

"Hell no. But I'm open to suggestions."

"I can get you out of here, alive and whole."

Tony inclined his head. "For the sake of argument, let's say I agree. What do you want from me in return? Clearly, you're not doing this out of the goodness of your heart."

A slow smile spread over Loki's face. "No, I am not the type for that." His thumb ran over Tony's wrist in a slow, deliberate caress. "If I save your life, you will owe me a debt. The time and manner of its payment will be left to my discretion."

"Having an Avenger in your debt. Clever." Tony licked his lips, feeling his pulse spike a little under Loki's touch. He gave the god a smirk. "You know, I should really decline your offer and find a way to get out of here on my own. It would be the reasonable thing to do."

"From what I have heard of you, Stark, reasonable is rarely your typical course of action."

"No, it's not," Tony admitted. "You've done your homework on me."

"A wise man makes it a point to study his enemies." The touch continued, thumb making small circles against Tony's pulse. Even though Tony knew it was pure manipulation on Loki's part, an attempt to make Tony more agreeable to the god's offer, he still couldn't help the little thrill of excitement that ran through him at the contact.

"How do I know that it wasn't you who orchestrated this whole thing?" he couldn't help but ask, trying to distract himself from the fact that they were still standing uncomfortably close together.

One dark eyebrow shot up. "And why would I do that, pray tell?"

"You just said that I will owe you a favor if you save my life. It would be the perfect scam – hire the guys, let them rough me up a little then swoop in and save my life in some grandiose way. Boom! Favour granted. That's what _I_ would do, anyway."

Loki showed his teeth. "Oh, you're good. That would be a wonderful plan, but sadly, no. I did not hire those men and do not know who is threatening your life."

"And now you're feeding me bullshit," Tony pointed out. "You know very well who those people are, you just can't be bothered to tell me. But hey, whatever. Normally I would be pissed, but right now I just want to get out of here."

Loki let go of his wrist and offered him a hand instead. "I can get you out of here instantly, but first I want your word. Do we have a deal?"

"I know I will regret this," Tony said, but he was already reaching for the god's hand. He briefly saw Loki's eyes widen at his easy acceptance but then the world turned into a swirl of green and disappeared. The next thing he knew, they were standing on the balcony of Stark Tower, the city lights bright beneath them.

Tony took a moment to ponder the sheer surrealness of the situation before he turned to Loki.

"You know, I was actually supposed to be back in Miami tonight, but whatever. It's nothing a half an hour flight in my suit can't fix and I'm not about to turn down a free ride home." He set off to walk inside, the glass doors opening automatically as he approached. Loki followed him at a slower pace.

"I see you have redecorated since my last visit," he said pleasantly when they walked in.

"Yeah," Tony said. "I had to make some renovations after our jolly green giant rearranged my floor with your head."

"Welcome back, sir," JARVIS chimed pleasantly.

"I'm not here," Tony told him at once. "As far as you're concerned, I was never here tonight. I refuse to explain to Captain America how I managed to get from LA to New York in less than a minute."

"Very well, sir. I will not notify the Avengers of your presence." He made a delicate pause. "Sir, I detect a hostile presence in the room. Do you want me to alert SHIELD?"

"No, that won't be necessary." Tony shot a look at Loki. "Unless he tries to kill me again, we should be fine."

"As you wish, sir," JARVIS sounded rather doubtful. "I will keep the alarm off for now. Nevertheless, let it be noted that I do not think this is a wise course of action."

"Yeah, yeah, you disapprove, I get it." Tony waved him off. "You can save the "I told you so" for the next time someone tries to kill me in my own home."

"Does that happen often?" Loki looked amused by the notion.

"Let's say it happens and leave it at that." Tony had no desire to touch this particular topic.

"Your servant seems more concerned by my presence than you are."

"He worries too much," Tony said tersely.

"He's wise to be concerned." Loki looked around. "Where is he hiding?"

"He's my A.I. Artificial Intelligence," he added at Loki's confused expression. "He's a computer program that I made to run my house and do anything else I might need."

"An invisible servant. Clever," Loki said, eyes flickering over the walls and ceiling. He didn't say anything else, instead seemed to be content with exploring the apartment.

Tony was starting to feel a little ill at ease. Here he was, alone in a room with Loki. It was one thing to banter with the Asgardian in the heat of the battle, when he was riding an adrenaline high, but now that the danger had passed, he had no idea what to do with the god. Throwing him out seemed a bit risky – Tony still had vivid memories of the street below flying to meet him, those endless seconds of freefall before the armor snapped safely around him feeling like eternity. He had no wish for a repeat of that particular experience.

"Is anyone home?" he asked JARVIS instead, hoping that hearing about the Hulk's presence might serve to quell any latent homicidal tendencies the god might be harboring.

"Doctor Banner is asleep in his rooms and Captain Rogers is currently in the gym," JARVIS said. "Do you wish for me to contact any of them?"

"That won't be necessary." Tony shot a furtive look at Loki, who was currently examining a coffee machine.

"Miss Potts is in Washington D.C. tonight," JARVIS continued.

"Of course she is," muttered Tony, trying not to feel resentful about that. Ever since they had broken up, she had done a marvelous job of avoiding Tony. He suspected JARVIS had something to do with it too, that traitor.

Loki chose that moment to look up from his perusal of Tony's kitchenette.

"The Avengers live here with you?" he asked, curious.

"Some of them," Tony grudgingly admitted. "They mostly come and go, but all of them have an apartment here to use, if they wish."

"How generous of you," Loki sounded only half-sarcastic.

"I'm the very soul of generosity," Tony told him flippantly, trying to move without making it obvious that he was putting a marble counter between himself and Loki. Loki, being the perceptive bastard that he was, naturally noticed.

"Am I making you nervous?" he asked with a small, predatory grin. "I am, am I not? I made you uneasy before, but you hid it quite well. Now, however, not so much." He stalked slowly over to where Tony was standing by the counter. "Tell me, Stark," he said when he was a foot away. "Are you afraid of me?"

It took all of Tony's willpower not to take a step back. He wasn't normally one to be easily intimidated, but there was something about Loki that set his teeth on edge.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you? This little power-play of yours."

Loki's grin widened. "Yes. More than I expected. It is amusing to watch your courage fight with your instincts."

"Yeah, the entertainment is free. Is there anything else you wanted?"

Loki's eyes flickered to the liquor cabinet. "I believe you still owe me a drink."

Tony suppressed a groan. "I did offer you one, didn't I?" He took the opportunity to put some distance between them. Reaching for two tumblers, he asked: "What do you want? I've got whisky, bourbon, wine, vodka…pretty much anything you can think off."

"I will leave that choice to you," Loki said. "Considering your wealth and general fondness for alcohol, I doubt you have anything truly distasteful."

"You'd be surprised what some people are willing to drink," Tony said, pouring two glasses of whisky. Damn, he really needed that drink. He handed the second glass to Loki. "There you go."

"What shall we drink to?" Loki asked, raising his glass.

"Daring escapes from death?" Tony suggested. That earned him a pleased smirk.

"Excellent suggestion," Loki said. "I hope you won't forget it."

Tony didn't say anything to that, sipping his whisky instead. It was his fifth drink of the night and he was slowly starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. He wasn't anywhere close to being drunk yet, but he was just buzzed enough to be in a good mood. He fervently hoped Loki would leave soon, because if he didn't, there was a real danger that Tony would start to notice the way Loki's well-tailored suit hugged those long, lean muscles in all the right places. That was a road he really didn't wish to take.

"This is surprisingly good," Loki broke the silence. "May I have some more?" He waved the empty glass at Tony, who wordlessly gestured to the bottle. Loki poured himself a full glass this time and leaned against the window, savoring the taste. "Sometimes I wonder how Asgard could survive for thousands of years on nothing but mead. One gets tired of it after a while."

"You don't have other drinks?" Tony asked, incredulous.

Loki grimaced. "We also have ale and wine, but there is very little variety."

"And you guys thought _we_ are primitive." Tony made a few steps away from the bar, gesticulating with his glass. "You know, if you took a walk through the streets below, you would find over a hundred different drinks in any random bar. We might not have a fancy rainbow bridge, but we can be really creative when it comes to ways to get drunk."

"No wonder Thor liked staying here so much," Loki said quietly. He noticed Tony hovering by the stairs. "You can come closer, if you wish. I am not planning on killing you today or any time soon."

"Well that's reassuring," Tony muttered, but nonetheless came over to the window. For a brief moment he had a vivid flashback of freefalling through the glass, but a second later his vision cleared and he was once again standing in his penthouse, the glass pane before him intact. He noticed that Loki was watching him and turned his attention to the city instead.

"Pretty, isn't it?" he nodded at the lights below. "And you wanted to destroy it."

"It does have its charms, I admit," Loki said. He took a few steps closer, until he was standing next to Tony and looked out at the streets pulsing with life, even in the late night hour. "When I visited Earth before, centuries ago, it had always been dirty and primitive. Uneducated masses crawling around in the dirt, people living little better than animals. This, however," he gestured to the city below, "is closer to Asgard than I had expected."

"We've grown," Tony told him. "We evolve. You guys have stayed the same for centuries, unchanging, stuck in your ways. You're not trying to improve anything, because you are convinced that you're the best at everything. And when you think that you're the best, it's always a shock when someone comes along and proves that they are better." And didn't he know that.

"Speaking from experience, are you?" Loki asked with a smirk.

"You can say that," Tony admitted. "But I was thinking more about you. You came here with all your talk about superiority and glory and got your ass handed to you by a bunch of guys whom you thought were so beneath you. Must have been embarrassing." Loki didn't say anything to that, so Tony continued. "And now you're stuck in prison for god knows how long, probably bored out of your mind. You should give some thought to reworking your business model, you know. This whole evil villain shtick doesn't seem to be working too well for you."

"And become what? A defender of justice and goodness?" Loki asked sardonically. "Like you?"

"Nah, it wouldn't suit you." Tony waved a hand and went to pour another glass since Loki had managed to empty the second one, too. "And as for me, I'm mostly just protecting my own interests. The whole hero image is just a nice bonus."

"I am not joining your little band of do-gooders."

"Of course you're not," Tony said. "Nobody would believe it, anyway." He poured himself another glass and drained half of it in a single gulp. "But there are miles between Captain America and a mustache-twirling homicidal megalomaniac. Just because nobody wanted you as the good guy doesn't mean you have to do a one-eighty degree turn and go full villain."

"What do you suggest I do, then, O Wise Midgardian?" Loki asked, sounding only half-sarcastic.

Tony shrugged. "That's your problem to figure out. Prison should provide you with plenty of time to think about your choices. Maybe you'll come up with something."

"Maybe I will," Loki said quietly, getting lost in thought. Tony was wishing fervently that Loki would leave soon, because the god's pensive mood and sudden friendliness were creeping him out. There was no way to call for the suit without being painfully obvious about it, so he could only stand there, effectively being held hostage in his own house. Loki didn't look particularly murderous right now, but Tony knew all too well just how quickly his moods could change.

Finally, Loki drained the rest of his glass and straightened up.

"I suppose it's time for me to go," he announced. "My jailors might get suspicious if I stay away for too long. Thank you for your hospitality." He gave Tony a nod and started walking out towards the balcony.

Tony watched him leave, feeling like a mouse that had just managed to escape from the clutches of a boa constrictor. He was almost ready to call JARVIS and have him prepare a suit when Loki suddenly stopped in the doorway and looked back, as if a thought had just occurred to him.

"There is something that I wish to know, before I leave," Loki said. Tony bit back a curse. Why wouldn't the asshole just _leave_ already? "How did you end up working for SHIELD? You do not seem like someone who enjoys following orders. Did they blackmail you? Bribe you?" He seemed genuinely interested in the answer.

For a second, Tony contemplated lying, but in the end decided to go with the facts.

"No. They presented me with an impossible challenge and gave me a key to solving it. By a happy coincidence, they also helped save my life in the process. It wasn't enough to put me fully aboard the Avenger train, but it made me willing to listen to future requests. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, I suppose it does," Loki said. "Good night, Stark."

He was almost out of the door when Tony remembered something.

"Thanks, by the way," he said quickly, wanting to get it over with. Loki turned around, frowning. "You know," Tony continued, "for the whole 'saving me from a sniper' thing."

A flicker of surprise briefly appeared on Loki's face before he smoothed it out again.

"You're welcome," he said with a gracious nod. "I will be back to collect my debt."

"I bet you will," Tony muttered.

Loki finally strode out onto the balcony, where he stood for a few seconds before he got enveloped in a halo of golden-green light and disappeared. Tony waited until he was sure that the god was really gone, then slumped against the bar and ran a hand over his face. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and his legs felt a bit unsteady.

With Loki gone, the events of the previous hour (had it really been so long? Jesus) started to feel like a really weird dream. From Loki's mysterious appearance to the awkward conversation over whisky, the whole scene felt totally surreal. If it wasn't for the second glass standing on the counter, Tony would write the entire encounter off as a drunken hallucination.

"Get me out of here, JARVIS." He drained the rest of his glass and walked out to the balcony, where the Mark VII armor stood waiting for him. For a moment he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the way his armor enveloped him with comforting familiarity, the plates sliding into their place with ease. If he left now, he would be back in Miami well before dawn. With luck nobody would even notice his absence.

Tony took off from the balcony, flying high into the darkness to avoid any curious eyes watching below. Since JARVIS was taking care of calculating the flight path for him, Tony had plenty of time to think. The conversation with Loki kept playing itself in his mind on a loop, each repetition making it look more and more absurd. Had he really promised the Asgardian a favor? There hadn't been much time to specify just what kind of favor it was supposed to be.

As it was, Loki could ask practically anything of him and Tony wouldn't be able to say no. If Loki decided to ask him for a nuke or something equally disastrous, they were all in deep shit. And if he refused, he was as good as dead. No matter which way he looked at it, he was fucked and there was nothing he could do about it.

He could only wait and see what Loki was up to. He wasn't looking forward to finding out.

_To be continued…_

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><p>Author's Note: This is the first chapter of novel-length fic I'm currently working on. It's going to be pretty long – probably over 100K words. I've already written 60K words for it, so the updates should be fairly regular – once a week or so.<p>

Since I don't have a beta for this and my own English tends to lean more towards the British version, there might be a few mistakes in this. I tried my best, but if you see any words that don't belong (Britishisms, phrases that an American wouldn't use), please feel free to point them out and I will correct them. It's my first time writing for a fandom in American English and the switch between the vocabularies is hard sometimes.

I hope you like the story so far. The second chapter should be up next Friday. Feedback is welcome as always :)


	2. Late Night Visitor

**Chapter 2 – Late Night Visitor**

Summary: In which Thor brings the Avengers some unexpected news and Tony proves he's a shitty grief counsellor.

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><p>Months passed without a sign of Loki.<p>

Life went on and Tony was as busy as he'd ever been. There were buildings to rebuild, charities to fund and new inventions to patent, so Tony rarely ever thought about the guy. That strange winter night now seemed more like a drunken hallucination than anything else, and if it weren't for JARVIS's recording of the whole thing, Tony would be half-convinced it never happened.

Needless to say, Tony was pretty happy with Loki's continued absence. After more than half a year had passed without the guy showing up again, Tony figured his "favour" wasn't all that urgent and decided to forget about it. It niggled in the back of his mind sometimes – mostly on the nights when he couldn't sleep, but he'd spent his entire life ignoring uncomfortable things, so it didn't take him much effort to ignore this as well.

Tony spent most of his days by driving between Malibu and Los Angeles, coming up with new designs for his projects and valiantly ignoring the growing requests to visit New York. It wasn't that he didn't like the city, he told Steve one night after the guy called him yet again to ask why Tony hadn't moved to the Avenger Tower yet. He liked the New York well enough. He was simply too busy in Malibu to think about moving right now.

The truth was that he didn't want to deal with all the memories that staying in New York always brought him.

Even now, two and a half years after the Chitauri attack, he could barely look at the city without getting flashbacks of death and destruction. He was sure he would be able to live there eventually, walk through the bustling streets again without seeing shadows of all the dust and blood and shattered glass, but he wasn't ready yet. He could survive the occasional visit (like the surprise debacle with Loki in his penthouse), but the thought of staying there permanently made him break out in cold sweat.

Because of this, he wasn't too happy when his phone rang one morning, just as he was driving to a Stark Industries Board of Directors meeting in L.A. Cap's picture on the screen meant one of two things – either there was an Avengers emergency because yet another lunatic was trying to destroy some piece of American urban infrastructure and/or an important historical monument, or Steve was calling because he wanted to have one of those heart-to-heart talks he loved so much.

Tony could understand that Steve was lonely, really – waking up after seventy years to find that everyone you had ever known was dead must have sucked – but it made him uncomfortable that Steve had chosen _him_ as one of his new friend-replacements. The guy was nice and they had started to get on better after the initial clusterfuck on the helicarrier, but there were some days when Tony couldn't help but feel that he had preferred it when Steve looked at him with contempt instead of respect. He had no idea what that said about him. Probably nothing good. His shrink would have a field day with this - if Tony ever bothered to visit her, that is.

He picked up the phone on the third ring.

"Hey, Cap, what's up?"

"Hi, Tony," Steve said in his typical polite way. "How are you?"

"Never been better. How's my Tower? Barton hasn't drunk all my whisky yet, has he?"

"No, he hasn't touched it, as far as I know. He may have stolen some of your vodka, though."

"That was probably Natasha. Barton is more of a beer guy," Tony said. "How's Bruce? Still holed up in the lab?"

"He seems happy enough in there. You can ask him about his experiments yourself when you come here."

"Cap-" Tony started, intent on explaining that there was no way he was coming back, but Steve spoke over his protests. "Tony."

Tony sighed. "What?"

"We need you to come to New York tonight." There was a note of seriousness in his tone that he only used when he was issuing orders and Tony didn't like it one bit.

"Do I have to? I'm kind of in the middle of something right now."

"Thor is coming," Cap told him. "He should be here in a few hours. He said he has important news and wanted us all present. Can you make it?"

Tony did a quick mental calculation.

"I've got a meeting that started twenty minutes ago and I was supposed to be at some movie premiere tonight, but I guess I can make the time."

"We appreciate it," Steve said and this time Tony could hear faint movement from Steve's side of the speaker. There was someone else in the room with him. Tony's bet was on Natasha.

"All right," he conceded. "I should be there around seven, unless JARVIS decides to commit mutiny and make me crash somewhere over Colorado."

"Sir," JARVIS protested, "that was uncalled for. If I were to "crash you" as you put it, I would at least attempt to give you a nice view in the process. I heard the Great Lakes are quite lovely this time of the year."

Tony heard faint snickering from the other side of the line.

"Do you hear that?" he asked them. "Mutiny. If he ever goes full on Skynet, I'm blaming you, Barton."

"How did you know I was here?" Barton spoke up.

"You have an annoying giggle," Tony said, grinning. "It's very distinctive. Or maybe it was Natasha, I don't know." He decided to end the conversation before Natasha found a way to murder him over the phone. He wouldn't put it past her.

"Anyway, I'm already in the L.A. headquarters, so I'm gonna hang up. See you guys tonight."

* * *

><p>In the end he decided to take his private jet instead of the suit for the flight to New York. If he had to travel across the entire continent, he might as well be comfortable in the process. The small plane touched down on the JFK airport shortly after seven and Tony didn't even bother calling for a driver. Instead he put on his suit and enjoyed the short flight over the city lit by the last rays of the setting sun. The Avenger Tower stood tall and proud in the distance and for a moment he felt a small pang of regret for not being able to stay there more often. He pushed the thought away a second later, irritated with himself for the sentiment.<p>

Tony landed on the balcony of his penthouse five minutes later and made his customary walk down the disassembly line, letting the mechanism pull the armor off his body until he was standing there only in his business suit. He gave himself a quick once-over in the reflective glass of the balcony doors before he strode in, addressing JARVIS.

"Is Thor here yet?"

"He hasn't arrived yet, sir," JARVIS informed him. "Indeed, it appears that you are early for once. Should I alert the press of this momentous occasion?"

"Has anyone told you that you're getting horribly snarky lately?" Tony walked into the private elevator, not even bothering to punch in the floor number. JARVIS would do it for him. "I should do a personality wipe on you, really, this is getting unbearable."

"I am merely taking cues from you, sir. It is said that imitation is the highest form of flattery."

"Well, I'm not flattered. Frankly, I'm a bit disturbed. You were supposed to be polite and obedient."

"I am polite, sir." JARVIS made a delicate pause. "When it is deserved, that it."

Tony opened his mouth to make a sharp retort, but the elevator doors opened at the same moment, revealing a room full of Avengers. They were all seated comfortably in the large living room on the shared floor. Bruce and Steve were on the large red sofa while Natasha had claimed one of the armchairs as her own. Barton was perched on the armrest of her chair, his eyes flitting over the room. The all looked up when Tony entered.

Tony shot the camera in the elevator a sharp look before stepping out.

"Hello, Tony," Steve greeted. The others echoed various greetings of their own.

"Hi Cap, guys," Tony replied. He pointed a finger at the ceiling. "That conversation is not over, JARVIS. You and I need to have a serious talk about your attitude."

"I will be looking forward to it, sir," JARVIS said in perfect deadpan.

"No you won't, you dirty liar," Tony muttered.

"Is JARVIS giving you trouble?" Steve asked, helpful as always.

"Nah." Tony waved a hand. "He's just being his usual bitchy self."

Steve frowned in puzzlement. "He is always perfectly polite with me."

"Of course he is," Tony said. "You're Captain America. You probably fold your handkerchiefs into perfect squares and sort your socks by color. Of course he adores you."

Before Steve could reply, Bruce spoke up. "You know," he said with a hint if a smile, "talking to inanimate objects is usually considered the first sign of madness."

"It's not madness if the inanimate object talks back," Tony pointed out and went to pour himself a martini. "Did Thor say when he's supposed to arrive?"

"He said he'll be flying in tonight," Barton answered.

"Flying in as in a plane, or is he riding the lightning?" Tony didn't even have time to feel pleased by the Metallica reference, because a few seconds later the sky darkened and a deafening thunder rumbled through the sky.

"Lightning it is," Tony muttered as he walked over and sat down into one of the free armchairs. If he had to sit through this heart-warming get-together, he might as well be comfortable.

There were several more flashes of lighting and cracks of thunder before they saw a streak of red pass the window. A few second later Thor landed on the balcony with a heavy thud before straightening up, hammer in hand. His unusually serious expression lightened up a bit when he saw them through the balcony door and he raised his hand in greeting, stepping inside.

"Greetings, my friends!" he boomed. "It's good to see you again." He gave them a warm smile but despite his boisterous hello, he looked uncharacteristically subdued.

"Good to see you too, Blondie," Tony joined the others in the chorus of welcomes. "You look like someone shat in your cornflakes. What's up?"

Thor gave him a puzzled frown, obviously unfamiliar with the expression.

"You mentioned over the phone that you have something important you wished to tell us," Steve took pity on him.

"Aye." Thor's expression went from subdued to outright sad. He put the hammer on the ground and sat down heavily into the nearest empty armchair, staring at the carpet. A full minute passed before he spoke again. "You may be gratified to hear that my brother is dead."

There was a beat of stunned silence.

"What the-" Tony said at the same time as Steve said: "Are you serious?"

"Aye," Thor said gravely.

"Loki's dead?" Barton asked in disbelief. "You do mean Loki, right?"

"I do not have any other brother," Thor confirmed.

"Holy shit." Barton looked a little stunned by the news.

"What happened?" Steve inquired.

"He fell fighting a vicious beast that was threatening my life."

Tony frowned as he remembered something. "Wait, wasn't he supposed to be in prison? Why was he fighting monsters with you?"

"There was an attack on Asgard," Thor started. "We found out that we were…woefully unprepared for any sort of assault on the realm. The attackers were the Dark Elves, a race of our ancient enemies, who came to Asgard in search of a substance called the Aether…"

He spoke for the better part of an hour, describing the whole debacle with the Dark Elves and the attack on Asgard. Tony listened, the wheels in his mind turning over all the implications and possibilities. When Thor finished, there was complete silence.

"I hate to ask this," Tony said after a while, feeling like a colossal dick just for posing the question, "but are you sure that Loki's really dead?"

Steve shot him a sharp look but Tony ignored him. Sure, it was crass to ask someone grieving this, but considering who they were dealing with, they had to make sure that they had exhausted all possibilities.

"I mean," he continued, "this is Loki we're talking about. If the guy was able to convincingly fake an amputated arm, there's a chance he could fake his own death, too."

"No," Thor shook his head, looking close to tears. "He is dead. I am certain of it. I saw him take his last breath in my arms, felt him go cold under my touch." He gave Tony a weary look. "I understand why you might be mistrustful of my words, but I witnessed his death with my own eyes. I can assure you that he is, indeed, dead."

"All right. All right." Tony raised his hands to placate him. "We believe you. Right, guys?" He looked at the other Avengers, who nodded. Only the Widow looked a bit skeptical, but it was clear that she had decided to keep her doubts to herself. Tony still felt a small niggling doubt at the back of his mind, but let it go. The poor guy was obviously wrecked by his brother's death. It would be cruel to grill him any further.

"What about the elves?" Bruce spoke up. "Have they been dealt with?"

"Aye." This time Thor actually smiled. "My lovely Jane was able to use some kind of device with the help of Doctor Selvig to take control of the portals and trap Malekith in Midgard. She and her Midgardian science were instrumental to his defeat. If you're interested in the process they used, you will have to ask them, for I am afraid that I understand very little of it."

"Yes, I'll do that. Thank you." Bruce looked rather excited by the prospect.

The Widow chose that moment to get up. "Fury should hear about all this. I'll go and fill him in on what you've just told us." She shot a look at Barton, who stood up as well.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go with you." He still looked a little shaken by the news. Tony didn't want to even guess at the mess his brain must have been right now.

Thor gave them a weak smile. "It was good to see you again, my friends. You may now rest easy with the knowledge that Loki is no more. He will never come and threaten your world again."

"And thank fuck for that," Tony heard Barton mutter before Natasha shut him up with another one of her looks.

"Thank you for telling us," she told Thor before they walked out of the room to disappear god-knows-where, as was their habit.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Steve said. Thor frowned.

"Loki was your enemy. Why do you express regret over his passing?"

"He may have been our enemy, but he was still your brother. No matter your estrangement, his loss must have been hard for you."

"Aye," Thor sighed softly. "We may have had our differences, but I loved him nonetheless.

Tony was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with all the emotion in the room. Seeing the demigod almost in tears was…alarming to say at least.

"You know what?" he said loudly to break the weird mood that had settled over their group. "Let's get drunk."

All three men looked up at him. Steve with disbelief, Bruce with bemusement and Thor…Thor actually seemed to perk up a bit at the suggestion.

"That solves everything in your book, doesn't it?" Steve's tone was biting as he pointedly glanced at the martini glass in Tony's hand. "You refuse to deal with your problems, so you drink instead."

Tony laid the now empty glass on the coffee table before folding his arms.

"Just how did this conversation turn from a discussion about Asgard into a lecture about my drinking habits?" Normally he would have happily picked a fight with Steve, but Thor's tale had made him feel drained and he wanted nothing more than to open a bottle of something good and forget all about Asgard and Loki for a few hours. He shut his eyes and mentally counted to ten before speaking again.

"No, it doesn't solve problems, but sometimes it sure as hell helps in dealing with them." He turned back to Thor. "Anyway, the offer still stands. If you wanna get drunk, my bar is wide open. I have enough booze here to flood a small town, so I'm sure we can find something that will get even you totally wasted."

"That would be…welcome. Thank you." Thor rose slowly, giving Tony a grateful smile before he went off to explore the liquor cabinet.

"Don't mention it." Tony followed after him to show him how to open the generously built bar in the wall. "So, what will it be? Beer? Scotch? Vodka? I'm afraid I don't have any mead, but I'm sure we could get some if I ordered it now." He looked back at the other two men. "What about you, guys? Will you join us?"

"I don't drink," Bruce said, looking a little apologetic. "Bad things tend to happen when I get drunk."

"Isn't that true for everyone?" Tony said jokingly. "You know, you should learn to relax more."

"That's what yoga is for." Bruce didn't let his resolve waver. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"What about you, Cap?"

"I think I'll pass on this one." He still looked disapproving of Tony's choice of therapy, but since Steve rarely approved of anything Tony did, Tony didn't feel terribly bothered by it. "I wouldn't be able to get drunk, anyway. I'll be in the gym if you need me." He followed Bruce out of the room, leaving Tony alone with Thor.

"So, how do you feel about vodka?"

And that was how Tony ended up getting drunk with the God of Thunder.

* * *

><p>The first hour of the evening consisted mostly of Tony showing Thor all the different bottles of alcohol in the bar and Thor enthusiastically tasting them one by one. He didn't speak much - in fact, he had hardly spoken more than five words in total since Steve had left the room - but he seemed genuinely impressed by Tony's booze collection.<p>

_Finally_, Tony thought as he watched Thor kick back yet another glass of scotch, _someone who can appreciate a good drink. _

Thor's visit made Tony suddenly feel glad that he _didn't_ live with the Avengers. He imagined Steve giving him a lecture every time he so much as came near a bottle and Bruce watching him drink with a sad, resigned smile and felt grateful as hell that there was nobody in Malibu to police his habits. Pepper had sometimes used to look disappointed when she found him drunk in his workshop, but at least she knew him well enough to not try and change him. Living with Captain Abstinence, on the other hand, would be pure hell.

Thor tried dozens of different drinks before he finally settled on Absinthe. Tony thought it was a bit of an odd choice, especially since he didn't bother with any of the usual bells and whistles that normally accompanied the drink, chugging the venomous-green liquid straight out of the bottle instead. Tony privately thought that the god may have chosen it because the color reminded him of Loki in some way, but decided to keep silent about it because it was none of his business - after all, he was hardly a guy who could judge other people for their issues.

Tony himself settled for scotch. He had never been a big fan of absinthe, so he didn't care if Thor drunk it all. There were three bottles of the stuff in the tower (mostly for appearances), two here and one in the penthouse upstairs, so he was pretty sure Thor would have plenty to drink. The drink had very high alcohol content, so there was a chance that it might actually manage to get Thor drunk. And hell, even if he did drink it all and wasn't satisfied yet, there was always vodka.

"This is good," Thor said after his third sip of Absinthe. "Truly a drink fit for the gods. I like it." He raised the bottle to the light, watching the liquid slosh around inside. "I have tasted Midgardian beer before, but this is much, much better. What is it?"

So Tony spent the next fifteen minutes describing how Absinthe was made and the different ways of drinking it. Thor looked fascinated by his tale.

"You have so many marvelous inventions in this realm," he said, making a sloppy arc with his hand to encompass the entirety of the world. "We do not have anything like this drink in Asgard."

"I know," Tony said before he could think better of it. It looked like he was drunker that he had thought if his information filters weren't working properly.

"How did you come to learn about Asgardian drinks?" Thor's gaze sharpened a bit, his attention switching from the bottle in his hand to Tony's face. "I do not recall sharing any tales of my drinking exploits with you after our glorious victory."

Shit. The guy could be perceptive at the worst times. Tony contemplated lying for a moment, but then he remembered that Loki was dead. What harm would it do if he told Thor about the evening in the penthouse? The deal was off. There was no favor to uphold anymore and maybe telling Thor about Loki's visit would help improve the god's mood a bit.

"The day of the attack," Tony started, "I flew to my tower to confront Loki in my own home. In between threats of ruin and responsibility I somehow managed to offer him a drink. I didn't plan on it - it just slipped out when I was trying to hold his attention to keep him from killing me." He took a sip of his scotch before continuing. "Well, it turns out that Loki took me up on that offer. Less than a year ago, he appeared all of a sudden at a random fundraiser and saved my life from an assassin."

Bit by bit, he told Thor the story of one of the weirdest nights of his life. Thor said silently, listening to his story with fascination. He didn't interrupt until Tony finished with "And I haven't seen him since."

Thor propped his chin on his hand, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"This is most unusual, even for my brother. Did he say what he wanted from you?"

Tony shook his head. "No. I have no idea if he wanted a weapon, a sports car or a lifelong subscription to Playboy. I suppose we will never find out now."

That caused Thor's face to fall again.

"Indeed," he said, taking another long swig from his bottle. When he set it down, it took him two tries to keep it upright. Tony thought it was high time they moved somewhere more comfortable.

"Come on," he told the Asgardian as he stood up. "Let's get to the couch before we're both too drunk to walk. You can pass out there all you want without risking that you'll fall off the chair."

He led the way, with a bottle in one hand and his glass in the other. Despite the five or so drinks he'd had so far, his walk was still fairly steady. After all - he'd had plenty of practice over the years. Sometimes he even worked on his designs while drunk. A few steps over the room were nothing compared to that.

Thor fared a bit worse. He stood up slowly, leaning on the bar for support. Tony thought that the god had probably underestimated the strength of his drink. But then - if he had only tried American beer before, it was no wonder. The Absinthe packed quite a punch, plus one had to count all the drinks Thor had drunk before. The sheer volume would kill five regular guys, but Thor only looked a bit tipsy.

Finally Thor managed to grab a bottle of green liquid in each hand, detach himself from the bar and cross the room to the couch where Tony was sitting sprawled against the cushions. Thor sat down heavily on the other end and put the spare bottle on the floor next to the sofa. He took a few more swallows from the bottle in his hand, frowning at the carpet.

"A part of me still cannot believe that he is gone," he said after a while. "I have known him all my life – we grew up together, fought side by side for centuries. He was my steady companion on all my adventures." He sighed. "And now he's gone."

Tony didn't know what to say to that, so he stayed silent. He had never been good at dealing with grief – be it other people's or his own. Besides, it looked like Thor had forgotten that Tony was even in the room. The god kept staring into space, lost in memories. He surprised Tony a minute later when he spoke again, this time addressing Tony directly.

"You remind me of him sometimes."

Tony almost spat out his drink. _That _had been certainly unexpected.

"What?" he asked, incredulous. "How do I remind you of _Loki_ of all people?" A horrible thought occurred to him. "You're not mistaking me for him, are you?" That was the last thing Tony needed – for Thor to have some sort of alcohol induced mental breakdown in which he hallucinates that Tony is his dead brother.

Thor gave him an amused look. "No, of course not. I am not that drunk."

"Good." Tony still didn't feel reassured. "What _did_ you mean, then?"

"That you and him share some similarities."

"Like what? We both have dark hair, talk too much and love making things explode?"

"Among other things." Thor's smile turned fond. "But no, the similarities go deeper than that."

Tony raised an eyebrow. Thor took another sip before continuing.

"You both like showing off you accomplishments. You enjoy being celebrated for your wit. You are charming and know how to influence the minds of people, even if they do not particularly wish to listen."

All right, Tony was starting to feel a little creeped out by how a guy who had spent less than three days total with him could read him like a book.

"How the hell do you know all this?"

"Some things I learned through observation, others from Loki. I visited him in his prison during his sentence on several occasions. Most of the time he refused to talk to anyone, but occasionally there were days when the loneliness became too much for him to bear and he was willing to converse with me."

"And you talked about _me_?" Tony couldn't help but feel skeptical. "I mean, I know I'm awesome, but I doubt that I left that much of an impression on him."

"Oh, but you did," Thor said. "He may not have shown it, but he was very intrigued by your creations. You are but a fragile mortal, and yet you have managed to create a device that allowed you to face me as an equal on the battlefield. Few men have ever managed to fight me like you did. It left quite an impression on him."

"Well, he certainly didn't show it."

"No." Thor smiled. "He rarely says what he means, much like you. I have noticed that about you. You talk so much, but you seldom say what is truly on your mind. Loki was much the same. He talked almost constantly, always eager to show off his wit, but he rarely shared anything of importance with me. He preferred to keep his secrets to himself, even as a child."

The sighed and emptied the rest of the bottle in two long gulps, putting the bottle down with an unsteady hand. He reached for the other bottle but didn't open it - instead he just stared at it with a sad expression on his face.

"Indeed, he rarely shared important things with me. He tried to, when we were younger, but I was too preoccupied with my own dreams and problems to hear him out. As time passed, he came to me less and less. I did not notice because I did not wish to notice." If possible, Thor's expression turned even sadder. "I wasn't a good brother to him. Things might have been different if I had listened to him more."

Tony felt totally out of his depth. He tried to imagine what Pepper or Steve would say to something like that.

"I'm sure you did your best."

"No. I did not," Thor said bluntly. "I always pushed my own opinions without taking his into consideration. I lead and he followed in my shadow, offering quiet support even to my most foolhardy ideas. And when he did voice his protests against something, my friends always took my side in the argument and his voice got silenced. Eventually, he grew to resent me." He shook his head sadly. "I do not blame him for it. I can see now that I haven't treated him well."

_Well, shit_, Tony thought. Hindsight was always 20/20. He tried to think of something that would alleviate the crushing guilt that he could hear in Thor's every word, because it looked like the guy indirectly blamed himself for Loki's death. From what Tony had seen, he didn't have much to blame himself for. Thor might not have been brother of the year, but he didn't drive Loki insane. The god of mischief had managed that all by himself.

"I don't think you should blame yourself for everything, buddy," Tony told him. "From what I have heard, Loki was a dick to you, too. He sent a gigantic death-machine after you, for fuck's sake." Mentioning that made him remember the attack on New York all over again and with the alcohol swimming hot in his blood, his temper flared at the reminder. "And don't forget that that he later came here with his crazy alien army and tried to burn New York to the ground." He threw out an arm in the general direction of the skyscrapers outside. "That didn't happen because he wasn't hugged enough as a child! He did it because he was fucking insane!"

He didn't even realize he was standing until he found himself two feet from the couch, the glass still in hand. Thor stood up too, towering over him, but Tony was too drunk to realize the danger of the situation he had just managed to put himself in.

"Have care how you speak," Thor growled. "There are matters you know nothing about."

"Well, I don't give a shit!" Tony snapped, the combination of alcohol and anger removing all of his normal restraint. "The guy almost killed me, for fuck's sake! He threw me out of a goddamn window! If I didn't have my suit, I would be dead! I think that gives me enough right to call him a raging madman."

"He is my brother!" Thor shot back. Tony didn't know what point he was trying to make with that.

"He was fucking crazy!" Tony yelled.

Thor crossed the three feet of space in one stride and grabbed Tony's shoulders, shaking him like a ragdoll.

"I will not tolerate this kind of insults!" Thor shouted, swaying on his feet. "Loki may be mad, but he is still my brother!"

"He's dead!" Tony reminded him. "He doesn't give a shit what I think of him, because he's dead, remember?"

Thor stilled for a second, realization hitting him like a bag of bricks. Tony could see the way his expression cracked, grief coming back full force as he remembered why they were drinking in the first place. He practically crumpled in Tony's arms and Tony hurriedly pushed him towards the couch, where the god buried his face in his hands and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Tony felt like the king of assholes for reminding the guy of Loki's death. Now he had a crying Norse god on his couch and no idea how to deal with him. The last time Tony himself had cried had been more than twenty years ago, when he heard that his parents were dead. That night he had drunk two bottles of whiskey and ended up bawling his eyes out in the corner of his workshop. The only company back then had been Dummy, who had spent the night watching him with a puzzled tilt of his claw and offering him dirty rags.

Dummy might have been a poor role model for grief management, but it was better than nothing. Copying his example, Tony reached over to the side of the couch to the box of tissues standing on one of the coffee tables and offered one to Thor.

"If you wanna talk about it, I'm here."

He spent the next half an hour sitting awkwardly on the couch and watching Thor go through half his supply of Kleenexes (or whatever fancy brand Pepper had bought, Tony didn't bother to check).

"He was my brother," Thor said finally, his voice scratchy from all the crying. He had a crumpled tissue in one hand and a new bottle of Absinthe in the other. He opened it and took several long swigs before continuing. "We spent over a thousand years together." He tore his gaze from the bottle to look at Tony. "Can you even imagine it? A thousand years of history. And now it's all gone. He's gone. Mother, too." His face scrunched up, two more tears falling from his eyes. "The world feels so empty without them."

Tony wordlessly offered him another Kleenex. Thor took it, wiping his face.

"I don't know what to do without them. I miss them both terribly." He gave Tony a helpless look, his eyes gazing beseechingly at Tony like he held all the answers in the universe.

"What do I do, Tony Stark?"

Tony didn't have an answer for him.

* * *

><p>The next morning Tony woke up sprawled on one end of the couch, the bottle still in hand. There was a blanket thrown over him, which made him suspect that Steve had come to check up on them after all. Thor was still snoring face down on the other end of the couch, dead to the world. Tony let him sleep. God knew that the guy needed it.<p>

He spent the next two hours checking his e-mail and fending off calls from various Stark Industries department heads, who had somehow managed to find out that Tony was in New York and urgently needed to talk to him. Tony had no idea how they knew he was here, but he suspected it might be Pepper's work. He wouldn't put it past her.

Thor woke up after lunch. He was still subdued when he came down to join the others, but seemed to be in a better mood than he'd been when he had first arrived. He thanked Tony profusely for his hospitality and promised to tell all his friends about the wonders of Midgardian liquor. Tony decided to buy himself an Absinthe factory. If the Asgardian was planning to stay on Earth for a while, he would need a lot of the stuff. Might as well make a new investment.

In the end Tony spent three more days in New York. The company demanded his attention, the managers taking advantage of the fact that he was in town to consult business strategies with him. When he finally managed to tear himself away, he was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to hide away in his workshop in Malibu and tell everyone to fuck off. The moment his last meeting ended, he put on the suit and flew. He had already left a message for the Avengers, so there was no need to go see them personally.

He arrived to the Malibu mansion in the middle of the night, exhausted but happy to be home. He let the assembly line in the workshop pull his armor from him and went to greet his bots.

"Daddy's home!" he called, turning on the lights.

"Welcome home, sir," JARVIS chimed.

The bots all raised their heads, their robotic claws clicking in welcome. Tony leaned on one of the workbenches and took a minute just to enjoy the peace and quiet of the empty house. Yeah, it was good to be home.

Despite his tiredness, he reached for the nearest sketch board. There were a dozen new ideas floating around in his head and he wanted to get them down before he went to sleep. It wouldn't take long.

He was so immersed in his drawing that he almost missed the green-golden glow that appeared a few feet away. Tony raised his head just in time to see Loki step out of the portal, smirk firmly in place.

"Hello, Stark."

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p>AN: Guys, this fic is so much fun to write. I've already got 70 000 words down, with the first ten chapters finished and no prospect of stopping anytime soon. This is shaping up to be the longest story I've ever written (current estimate of final length = 120-150K words), but it barely registers, because I love every minute of the process. The characters have good chemistry and the plot is already laid out, so this practically writes itself.

Of course, your support helps. Thanks so much to everyone who left kudos and comments on the first chapter! I was bowled over by the amount of responses I got. I'm glad you like the story so far and hope you will hold out with me until the end.

The next chapter will be posted next Thursday, on December 4th, because I'm going on a trip to Germany for the weekend and won't have access to the internet for a few days.


	3. Deal with the Devil

**Chapter 3 – Deal with the Devil**

**Summary: **"So, this leaves me with two possibilities," Tony said. "Either Loki's dead and you're some other guy who's wearing his face for shits and giggles, or you're the real deal and you just played an extremely tasteless prank on your brother."

* * *

><p>"Hello, Stark."<p>

It took Tony's exhausted mind longer than he would prefer to process what he was seeing, but the moment he did, he snapped from designing a jet engine to battle mode in less than a second. Before he even realized what he was doing, he had already taken two quick steps back and reached for the nearest weapon-like object, which in this case happened to be a half-finished repulsor prototype. He pointed it at Loki's chest and felt a twinge of annoyance when Loki's only reaction was an amused smirk

"Give me one reason, one good reason, why I shouldn't summon the Avengers right now," Tony said, not in the mood for Loki's mind games.

"You owe me a debt," Loki said like it solved everything. "You would break your word if you betrayed me."

Since it looked like Loki didn't come to murder him (at least not right away) and the repulsor wouldn't do much against him anyway, Tony slowly lowered the prototype back to the bench and picked up a random screwdriver instead, twirling it idly between his fingers in a fake display on nonchalance. Loki looked fairly calm for the moment, but Tony still made sure to keep himself within reach of his weapons, just in case.

"It's the strangest thing, you know," he told the god. "I could have sworn that just a few days ago I had your brother break down crying on my couch because you were dead." He shot Loki a look. "It took some persuasion and a lot of booze to get the full story out of him, but he was pretty convinced that you had died in a fight with some dark elf beast-thing on Svartalfheim."

Even now Tony could still remembered it vividly - Thor's grief-stricken face when he had finally realized that his brother was really gone for good, the way his voice had hitched whenever he had pronounced Loki's name, the new wave of tears that started flowing from Thor's eyes when he recalled some of his fondest memories of his brother. Thor had been drunk out of his mind at the time, so there was no way he could have been lying. The guy was 100% convinced that Loki was dead.

And now Loki was here, right in the middle of Tony's workshop, looking very much alive and acting like nothing had happened.

"So, this leaves me with two possibilities," Tony said. "Either Loki's dead and you're some other guy who's wearing his face for shits and giggles, or you're the real deal and you just played an extremely tasteless prank on your brother." He pointed the screwdriver in Loki's direction. "Shitty move, by the way. The guy's in pieces over it. You have a lot to make up for."

Annoyance flickered over Loki's face. "I answer to no one. And I don't owe that oaf anything."

Tony shrugged. "That's your call. I'm not stupid enough to involve myself in your family affairs. Be warned though: when the guy finds out - and he will, you can count on that – it won't be pretty. In fact," he said, picking up his cellphone from the desk, "I bet he would _love_ to hear about your miraculous resurrection. Why don't I call him and tell him right now?"

He barely saw Loki move. One second he was lounging against a workbench a few feet away and the next he had Tony's hand in an iron grip.

"I don't think so," he told Tony almost pleasantly, towering above him. "You will not inform anyone about my whereabouts."

Tony couldn't help it, he smirked at him. Pepper was right when she said he had no self-preservation.

"And I should do that why? Because you said so?"

Loki gritted his teeth. "You insolent-" he cut off and took a deep breath, visibly trying to compose himself a bit. "I did not come here to pointlessly quarrel with you," he said finally, loosening his grip on Tony's hand a little.

Tony cocked his head. "Oh really? Because you're doing a very good impression of quarrelling right now." When a muscle in Loki's jaw twitched, he decided to back off a little. It wouldn't do to piss off the god in earnest. "Why are you here, then, if not for the scintillating conversation?"

"I have come to collect the favour you owe me."

Tony pulled his hand out of Loki's grasp to cross his arms across his chest.

"And what if I refuse?"

"Then the consequences won't be pleasant for you," Loki informed him.

"Let's make one thing straight," Tony raised his chin, feeling a bit resentful that he had to look up to speak with Loki face to face. "I don't respond well to threats and I don't appreciate you showing up in my workshop at ass-o'clock in the morning to boss me around."

"What _would_ you appreciate, then?" Loki asked, cocking his head a bit. "If I came to you like a beggar, groveling?"

Tony massaged his temple, trying to will away the growing headache.

"Right now I would really appreciate it if you just fucked off and left me alone, but since that's obviously not going to happen, you might as well spill. What do you want from me? If you're here for weapons, you're shit out of luck. I don't make those anymore."

And he turned his back on Loki's smarmy face and went to pour himself another mug of coffee. Not the smartest of moves, perhaps, but since it looked like Loki planned to stay for a while, it meant Tony needed to be on the top of his game. And that required coffee.

"Oh, but you do make weapons," Loki muttered, eyeing the Iron Man suits on display. "You have simply stopped sharing them with others."

"I'm not building a nuke for you," Tony told him resolutely, keeping one eye on his unwanted visitor as he poured himself coffee. "There is nothing you can offer me that could persuade me to make one." He took a sip, feeling his body perk up a little from the new influx of caffeine.

"I must say, you do not seem very surprised by my presence here," Loki said.

Oh, Tony was plenty surprised, he just had a very good poker face.

"To be honest, I would be more surprised to find that you _were_ dead. Considering who you are, a stunt like this isn't all that unexpected. And as for you being _here_, well, I suppose there was magic involved in some way."

"I have my means of finding people," Loki told him with a smirk and all right, that was super creepy.

"You know," Tony said, just to keep his mind away from thoughts of _'oh god, Loki can appear in my house at any time and there's nothing I can do to keep him out'_, "I'm still half-convinced that you hired those assassins, just to have me in your debt."

Loki's eyes glittered with amusement.

"Your fanciful notions of your own importance are amusing, but no, I did not hire those men. Believe me - if I wanted you dead, you would be dead."

"Well, that's reassuring," Tony muttered, sipping at his coffee.

Loki took a step closer, idly inspecting the half-finished projects on the workbench.

"What if I told you that I will reward you generously for your cooperation?"

"I don't need your money," Tony told him at once.

"I am aware of your wealth." Loki said. "But gold is not what I'm offering. What if I offered to share some of my knowledge with you? What would you say to that?"

Tony took a second to consider it.

"I'd say you're probably lying, trying to get me to cooperate with empty promises so that you can disappear with the final product without actually giving me anything." He gave Loki a look. "I've read some of the legends, you know. They don't call you the God of Lies for nothing."

For the first time since he'd appeared in Tony's workshop, Loki's expression clouded.

"Your so called legends are wildly inaccurate and exaggerated."

"I don't know," Tony leisurely finished his coffee, putting the empty mug on the counter, "I think they capture your general dickishness pretty well."

"So that's your answer, then," Loki said, all traces of good mood gone from his face. "I should have known I couldn't depend on a mortal to hold his end of the bargain." He spun around to walk away, but not fast enough to hide the flicker of hurt that flashed across his face.

Almost against his will, Tony found himself taking a step forward.

"Wait!" He called after the retreating figure. Loki stopped but didn't turn around. "What did you want from me? I can't tell you if I'm willing to work for you if you don't even tell me what I'm supposed to do."

He had no idea what had made him stop Loki from leaving. By all rights, Tony should be happy to get rid of him, but he couldn't help himself. Underneath the usual aura of power and confidence that Loki was trying to project, there was something in his posture that screamed tiredness and resignation, as if he had come to Tony's workshop already half-expecting to be thrown out. Loki looked like a shadow of his former self, a far cry from the egoistical madman who had laid siege to Tony's tower more than two years ago and Tony couldn't help but wonder, how much had changed for the god since he'd last seen him.

Loki slowly turned back, keeping his expression carefully guarded.

"I do not require any weapons from you. I was simply going to request that you make me armour, similar to the one I am currently wearing. It would have to be resistant to magic, so that no enemy spell may touch me."

Tony blew out a breath. "Wow. I never thought I would say this, but I'm not sure if I am able to do that. Magic is a bit out of my general area of expertise. Can't you just go to Asgard and have it made there?"

"That is no longer an option," Loki said in a clipped tone. Tony decided not to ask about that.

"Well, I can certainly try, but I can't promise you anything." Even as he spoke, he was already walking to one of the benches, a thousand different ideas popping up in his brain. "I've never made anything like it." He had JARVIS run a quick scan of Loki's armor and projected it into the space above the table. The hologram gleamed a bright, ethereal blue, dancing under Tony's hands as he pulled it this way and that, exploring.

"The plating shouldn't be that much of a problem, even if the materials are a bit…exotic. I can have the general shape done in a few days. The anti-magic part, however, will be a tough nut to crack." He studied the design, trying to come up with ideas. "I assume you want the armor to be able to block magic coming at you from outside, but at the same time you want to be able to use your own magic without the armor blocking you?" He shot the god a questioning look.

Loki was wearing a strange expression, but carefully slipped back into a neutral mask when he found Tony looking at him.

"Yes, that would be preferable." His eyes flitted from the 3-D design to its creator. "I'm not sure I understand. You were trying to evict me from your workroom just a moment ago, but suddenly you have decided to cooperate. What made you change your mind so quickly?"

Tony didn't think Loki would appreciate being told that Tony felt sorry for him, so he opted for a cocky grin instead.

"I could never resist a good challenge. The technology on this armor of yours is far beyond anything I have ever made, so it should be interesting, to say at least. Maybe I'll even learn something new." A thought suddenly occurred to him and he paused with his hand above the hologram. "Why did you come to me, anyway? I don't know jack shit about magic. I bet there are some elves or dwarves or whatever guys who can do these things a lot better than me."

"I was told that you are the finest armourer in Midgard," Loki said, giving Tony a glance.

The flattery was cheap and utterly transparent, but Tony still huffed a laugh. "Yeah, I guess you can say that. I do have the best suits around here, after all, and there aren't many people who could do what I do. Well, certainly not as well as me."

"I see that you're the very soul of modesty."

"Yeah, it's one of my best traits," Tony replied without missing a beat. "I'm also a genius, incredibly handsome and great in bed, but never mind that. You said we'd have a deal. Am I allowed to make some of my own conditions?"

Loki made a "go ahead" gesture, still busy exploring the hologram.

"All right," Tony said, trying to formulate the words as precisely as he could to avoid creating any inconvenient loopholes. "One: you are not allowed to threaten, harm or kill anyone close to me, or kill any humans in general, unless they're directly threatening your life. I don't care if you're used to killing people when you're bored or whatever, you won't do that shit here. If I hear you killed anyone while you're on Earth, the deal is off."

"Very well," Loki nodded magnanimously, "I will grant you that wish. Anything else?"

"Two: I get to keep whatever technology I develop during the making of the armor. The final product is yours, but I get the know-how." He waited for Loki's affirmative nod before continuing. "And three: no mindfucks. You're no allowed to use any mind-control spells or anything of that sort on me. If I am to work for you, it will be on my own terms, not as some slack-jawed puppet. If I find out that you messed with my mind in any way, you won't like the consequences." Tony raised an eyebrow when Loki nodded for the third time. This had gone a lot smoother than Tony would expect. "So, do we have a deal?"

Loki pulled his hands away from the hologram and nodded.

"Yes, I suppose that's acceptable. In return, I will require your absolute silence. You are not to tell anyone that I am alive or that I am here. I have managed to avoid detection so far and would be very disappointed if my plans failed because of one mouthy human." He shot Tony a warning look before he extended a hand. "Do you accept?"

Tony hesitated for a moment as he went over Loki's words, trying to find any hidden loopholes.

"What happens if I accidentally break my side of the deal? You know, someone like the Widow comes for a visit and figures out that you're here? What happens to me, then?"

Loki's smirk turned very smug. "In that case it will be my pleasure to choose a suitable punishment for you. However, I do not have to worry unduly about your indiscretion – a magical contract does not allow itself to be broken once it's closed. Just like I will not be able to harm you or any of your pathetic humans, you will not be able to disclose my existence to anyone. Such is the nature of our deal. Now, do you accept?"

_Fucking magic_, Tony thought as he slowly reached out to shake Loki's hand. _I'm so going to regret this._

"You've got a deal."

He felt a jolt run through him when their palms touched and had to suppress a shudder when he saw the tiny tendrils of bright red light swirling around their clasped hands. They shimmered in the air for a few seconds before disappearing. Tony tried really hard not to be creeped out by it. He dropped Loki's hand as soon as the god loosened his grasp and took a few steps back, trying to put some distance between them.

The good thing was that he didn't feel any different, but then – if Loki had put some sort of a spell on him, he wouldn't be any wiser, would he? Better stop thinking about it, or he was going to drive himself crazy with paranoia.

"So, that's it?" he asked, just to be sure.

Loki's answering smirk was far too knowing for Tony's taste.

"Yes, our deal has been made. Now it's your turn to fulfill your end of the bargain."

Tony still felt like there was a catch somewhere in there that he had missed. It made him feel on edge.

"So I make you your armor and you then what? Disappear?" Somehow he had trouble believing that.

Loki inclined his head. "Your debt to me will be erased once you have given me what I came for."

Tony leaned his hip against the workbench and gave the god a skeptical look.

"You know, I'm still not entirely convinced that there _is_ a debt in the first place, but whatever. If it gets you off my back, I'll do it."

"Eager to get rid of me so soon?" Loki cocked an eyebrow.

"You have no idea," Tony muttered, turning back to the bench to tinker with the newest StarkPhone prototype. "You know what? Come back in a few days and we can start working on a preliminary design for the armor. Right now I haven't slept for two days and there's like a million things I need to do before I can even think about going to bed, so I really don't have time for this."

He didn't even look back to check if the god had heeded his advice, his mind already sorting through the long mental checklist of things he had promised Pepper he would do.

He had no idea when Loki finally left, but when he looked up from his workbench a few hours later, the guy was gone.

Tony really wasn't looking forward to his next visit.

* * *

><p>To Tony's annoyance, the Loki-less state of his workshop didn't last long. When the god next popped up in the middle of the afternoon a few days later, it was all Tony could do to stop himself from throwing a wrench at him.<p>

He had barely managed to finish an engine prototype that Pepper had been grilling him about for the past two months and he still needed to recalibrate the targeting system in his armor and there were about a hundred more things he had planned today that he hadn't managed to get to yet, so the god's visit was really inconvenient. Really, really inconvenient. Tony thought the guy must have a special talent for appearing where he was the least wanted.

Tony didn't even bother to look up at his unwanted visitor.

"What do you want?"

"What? No greeting?" Loki said in fake disappointment. "You Midgardians have terrible manners."

"Nope, that's just me," Tony said and continued tweaking the computer program. From the corner of his eye he saw Loki take a few steps closer before something caught his attention on one of the workbenches. He lifted the cube with Tony's first arc reactor from the table, studying it intently for a few minutes before he put it back.

"I do not know if I should find your lack of alarm at my presence in your home insulting or amusing," he finally drawled

"The novelty has kind of worn off since the last time you were here," Tony told him.

That got him an amused smirk.

"Yes, I suppose it has."

When he didn't say anything else, Tony finally pushed back from the computer and swiveled around to face the guy.

"Is there a point to this visit?" he couldn't help but ask. Loki didn't seem in any particular hurry to leave and his presence was starting to get on Tony's nerves.

"I thought I might come and check your progress on my commission."

"Hate to disappoint you, but there hasn't been much progress apart from what you've already seen. Despite what you might think, you're not the only person who wants something from me. I'll take a look at your armor when I'm finished with my other stuff. That might take a while, thought, because I'm a pretty busy guy."

Loki's smirk disappeared to be replaced by a displeased frown. "I thought you would make my order your top priority."

"Well then, think again." Tony was way past the point where he would be impressed by the god looming over him. Loki tried it now, towering over Tony's chair, but the engineer only gave him an unimpressed look.

"Look, buddy, you're not that special. The world doesn't revolve around you. I will make your armor – eventually – but right now I simply don't have the time for it."

"Then I suggest you make the time," Loki said in a low, dangerous voice. Tony rolled his eyes. Now that he was certain that Loki wasn't going to kill him, the guy's threats had lost all of their weight.

"What did I tell you about the threats?" Tony said. "Don't work on me. Now let me finish this first and if I have time after that, I might take a look at your armor."

Loki still looked annoyed, but finally backed off a few steps and sat down on a nearby bench with a theatrical sigh.

"Very well, I will wait for a while. I would suggest you hurry with your work, however – I am not known for my patience."

"Yeah? That makes two of us," Tony muttered under his breath as he turned back to the screen full of code. Maybe if he worked on it for too long, Loki would get bored and go annoy someone else. He didn't seem like the type of guy who enjoyed sitting still for long periods of time.

Soon Tony got immersed in reprogramming the targeting system and lost track of time. When he finally saved the final version of the code and stood up from the computer, the bench where Loki had been sitting before was empty. Before he could celebrate his successful tactic for getting rid of intruders, however, a sound from the other side of the workshop drew his attention. He spun around to find Loki standing in front of his display case with the Mark I armor, examining it with fascination.

"You're still here?"

Loki spread his arms in a "here I am" gesture. "As you can see."

"You're not going to leave, are you?" Tony asked in resignation.

"No." Loki's shark-like grin made it clear just how much he was enjoying being a pain in the ass.

A few beats passed before Tony gave up.

"All right, come here. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can get back to my _real_ work." He waited for the god to cross the workshop and come stand in the open space a few feet away. "Now don't move," he told Loki as he set up the scanners.

"What are you going to do to me?" Loki asked, suspicious.

"Just a scan of the armor." And of Loki himself, but Tony decided to keep that little detail to himself. "What I did the last time was just a surface scan of the general shape, but this will give me more information to work with."

He ran several scans before he was satisfied with the results. As the information started piling up, he pulled up a few more screens into the air to have it neatly organized. When the composition scan came up, he actually blinked. "Huh."

"What?" Loki asked impatiently.

"Oh, nothing," Tony said. "It's just – your armor is made of steel."

"Yes, Asgardian steel," Loki said, crossing his arms. "I could have told you that myself if you had bothered to ask about it."

"No, but it's just- Steel." Tony shook his head. "I thought it would be something fancy like adamantium or some weird alien metal, but it's only steel. True – it's made a little differently than I'm used to, but it's still just simple steel."

"It's enchanted," Loki pointed out. Tony couldn't help but notice that he sounded a little affronted. Good.

"Yeah, it may be enchanted, but the material is still quite basic. Hell – even my suits use something more interesting than this. Your smiths don't have much of an imagination, do they?"

He was rewarded with a scowl that made him grin. Hell yeah, irritating Loki was fun when he knew he would get away with it.

"Anyway," Tony continued. "I suppose we'll spend some time on the design – that's entirely your choice, by the way. Whether you want to emulate the Lord of the Rings, or want some weirdo thing full of gigantic spikes, I don't really care. It's your call." He crossed over to a different screen, making it run simulations of various viable materials. "For now, we can discuss the materials. What do you want? I've got a few different kinds of steel, iron, titanium, various carbon infusions and even gold, if you feel like showing off. I can also make all sorts of alloys, but if you want anything more…exotic, you will have to provide it for me, because there are only so many things I can get here on Earth."

"I can provide you with the materials, if it proves necessary," Loki said.

"Awesome. Just don't tell me where you got them from. There are some things I'm better off not knowing."

"I will endeavor to spare your delicate sensibilities," Loki drawled.

Tony pointed a stylus at him. "Yeah, you do that. So, once you've chosen a design and material, the armor itself should be done in a few days. I'll have JARVIS make the mold based on your sca-"

"No," Loki interrupted him. "No mold, no machines. I want you to create the armor entirely by hand."

"You _have_ to be kidding me." Tony gave him an incredulous look. "Do you have _any_ idea how much work that is? It will take ages!"

Loki only smirked. "I have all the time in the world."

"Well, I don't." Yep, Tony was definitely annoyed now.

"That is your problem, not mine." Loki took a step closer, holding Tony's gaze. "I want every inch of the armor crafted by your hands. I will not be satisfied with anything less."

Tony fought down the urge to punch his smug face. As a distraction, he tried to think of some alternatives.

"I suppose I can build a gas-powered forge and-"

"No," Loki said immediately, "an artifact like this requires fire for its creation."

Tony's jaw actually dropped a little.

"You want me to build a _brick forge_?"

"Yes, that would be ideal," Loki said with a perfectly straight face.

"You have to be fucking kidding me."

Tony could no longer tell if Loki was serious or if he was just making up random bullshit to mess with him. Either way, he was slowly arriving at the end of his patience. Even though it was barely three in the afternoon, he went to his desk and pulled out a bottle of whisky he kept stashed there. Fuck sobriety, this needed alcohol. Otherwise he might end up putting on a suit and punching a hole through Loki's face if the guy kept this up.

He took a few swigs from it, relishing the burn down his throat. Tony didn't even bother hiding the bottle back in the table – instead he put in on the desk to have it on hand. He strongly suspected it would be needed after Loki left (if he ever did. The guy looked far too comfy in the workshop for his taste). Only when he felt a little calmer did he turn back to Loki.

"You know, this kind of setup has last been used sometime in the Middle Ages. I don't know where you get your ideas about the state of our civilization, but we have graduated from making stuff this way a long time ago. Besides that, I'm the guy with technology. I make computers and planes and space-suits. If you wanted your armor done by an actual blacksmith, you should have gone to some elf or dwarf or whoever normally makes these things for you."

"I already told you that I cannot," Loki said crossly.

"But _why_?" Tony demanded. "Did you piss off the elves or something? Were you banished for being a dick?"

"No!" Loki snapped. "I cannot go to them because I do not wish for anyone to know that I am alive!"

Tony blinked. "Seriously?" That had been unexpected. "Does that mean _I'm_ the only person who knows you're alive?"

"Yes," Loki bit out. "I have my reasons for hiding that I will not share with you, but essentially, right now you are the only living soul who is aware that I'm not dead."

"Wow." Tony took a minute to absorb that. If Loki was speaking the truth (which wasn't likely, but was still possible), this whole situation had just gotten twenty times weirder.

Why was Loki pretending to be dead? And why was Tony the only one to know about him?

He had so many questions but strongly suspected that Loki wasn't going to answer any of them. He already looked annoyed enough that Tony had managed to get as much from him as he had. A further line of questioning would probably end with half the workshop destroyed and Tony smeared on the wall somewhere. For the first time ever, Tony regretted not having Natasha around anymore, spying on his every move. She would have been able to get it out of him.

Loki didn't pay any attention to Tony's confused state of mind, rambling on.

"So no," he continued, "I cannot order armor from a blacksmith on Alfheim, because I do not wish to be seen there." He pinned Tony with a glare. "Now give me a straight answer! Are you or are you not capable of making it to my specifications? If you are not, this has been nothing but a waste of time."

Tony looked up at the furious man who was now standing less than three feet away. No, not _furious_, he concluded on a second look. He looked more frustrated than angry. Why did he want the armor so badly? And from _Tony_ of all people? It bugged him. Still, there was a small part of his ego that couldn't help but feel smug that Loki had chosen him for this. Of all the people he could have gone to, he had decided to trust a former enemy. Why?

So far, he had no idea - but, he thought, he might be able to get the reason out of Loki sooner or later, if the stupid forging took as long as he estimated. The guy loved to talk and Tony was pretty sure that with a bit of encouragement, he would spill his motives eventually. People like him always did.

"Yes," he answered finally when Loki started to look like he was going to strangle him if he had to wait any longer. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can make this. It's been a few years since I've forged anything like this by hand," and _boy_, did he wish to forget all about those particular three months, "but I can do it."

Loki gave him a long searching look before nodding. "Very well. I hate being disappointed." And that didn't sound ominous at all. Not one bit.

Tony was starting to hate this whole stupid project.

"So," he asked with forced cheerfulness, "what sort of material do you have in mind?"

This was going to be a long day.

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p>AN: Thank you all for your continuing support! I'm so happy you like this story. So far I have managed to finish 12 chapters with two more almost done and I'm having such a great time with this story.

The next chapter will be posted on next Friday, December 12.


	4. Introductions

**Chapter 4 – Introductions**

Summary: In which Tony has a pizza, Loki meets Tony's bots and New York almost gets destroyed. Again.

* * *

><p>"You know," Tony said a few hours later, after yet another round of unreasonable demands and arguments over Tony's methods, "I won't be able to make the final version anyway until I figure out how to make the damn thing magic-proof, so I'm just going to use the computer-made molds for trial versions until then, because if I had to forge everything by hand, my hands would fall off. I'll have to try out dozens of different combinations of metals and their reactions to heat and pressure before I find the ideal alloy that works best."<p>

He gave Loki a glare when the god opened his mouth to argue and continued: "Once I discover how to do the whole anti-magic thing, I'll forge the actual armor in the damn fire. How does that sound?"

Loki looked annoyed, but eventually nodded. "I suppose that's acceptable."

"Halleluiah!" Tony exclaimed. "That's settled then. And if you say the word "forge" one more time today, I swear I will set you on fire."

The threat seemed to amuse Loki. His mind really worked in weird ways.

Tony tore his gaze from the demigod to survey his workshop. They had spent most of the afternoon bickering, so he hadn't managed to do much actual work aside from tinkering with a StarkPhone prototype. The only positive thing about all this was that at least this situation hadn't involved any sort of abductions or imprisonment so far. Compared with some of his previous encounters with mad villains, arguing with the God of Chaos over metal alloys was pretty benign, really. Even if it was exhausting.

As he was waiting for the coffee machine to finish a new batch so he could refill his mug, Tony suddenly realized that he was hungry. When had he last eaten? Today? Yesterday? His memory was kind of foggy on that front. Oh, right, there had been donuts involved at some point, so probably breakfast. Still, that had been good twelve hours ago and he was starving.

"Hey, I'm gonna order a pizza. Do you like pizza?" No response. Tony tried a different question. "Have you ever _had_ pizza?"

Loki looked up from the blueprint he was studying. "No, I cannot say that I have. I suppose it's one of your Midgardian dishes."

"Yep, you got that right. Pizza is awesome, by the way, so it's a crime you've never had one. Nobody should go their whole life without the knowledge of pizza." Something occurred to him, as he remembered one of Pepper's many lectures about sensitivity and accommodating different customs. "Do you eat meat?" he asked, almost as an afterthought. Personally he didn't give a crap about Loki's preferences, but it was always better to avoid accidentally pissing off the guy.

Loki gave him a "what do you think?" look.

"Oh, right," Tony said. "Stupid question. You guys really love your boars and hams and stuff. Of course you eat meat. How much do you eat, anyway? Thor-sized portions? Bigger? Smaller?"

He waited for a moment, but all he got in response was a glare for mentioning Thor's name. So much for cooperation. In the end he decided to order five pizzas with various toppings. If Loki didn't eat it all, at least Tony would have some leftovers for tomorrow.

Loki watched him order food with a puzzled frown. "You do not cook your own food?"

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like a guy who cooks?"

"Why not employ a cook, then?" Loki asked. "You are more than wealthy enough to afford it. Or do you not have servants on Midgard?"

"We have. I just I don't like having people around," Tony admitted with some reluctance. "And yes, that includes my workshop." He gave Loki a pointed glare which the god ignored.

"Is that why you didn't move into your Tower with the others? You told me yourself that the others live there now. The tower belongs to you and yet you do not reside there." Loki gave him a curious look. "Why is that?"

And thank fuck, JARVIS chose that precise moment inform Tony that the pizza guy's car was approaching the house, saving him from having to answer the question. They were always incredibly fast when Tony ordered anything, probably because about half their total revenue came from the generous tips he left them on each order. Tony turned to leave the workshop, only to find Loki blocking his way.

"What?" he asked.

"You have not answered my question." Loki had that stupid knowing look on his face again.

"No, I have not, because it's none of your business," Tony told him as he stepped around him to leave. "I'm here to make you a fancy piece of metal, not to fill out a questionnaire about my habits. You didn't want to tell me why you're pretending to be dead, either, so it's only fair that I keep stuff to myself, too."

He didn't wait for an answer and went upstairs to fetch the pizza.

"JARVIS," he said after the door shut behind the pizza boy, "call Loki upstairs for me, will you? I'm gonna take this to the kitchen."

Loki climbed the stairs half a minute later, looking around himself curiously.

"So, this is your dwelling."

"Yeah," Tony called from the kitchen. "Come here, I've got the pizza. It tastes best when it's still hot."

The god came over to inspect the pizza boxes. "You mortals have the strangest foods."

"If you think pizza is weird, I'd like to see what you would think about haggis or fried grasshoppers."

Tony didn't bother with plates or cutlery - he simply took a slice straight from the pizza box and started eating it with relish. He certainly wasn't going to stand on ceremony for _Loki_ of all people.

Loki hesitated over the boxes for a moment, probably judging the merits of various toppings, before he finally reached for a slice of ham pizza and took a tentative bite. He must have liked what he tasted, because he wolfed down the rest of the slice in several bites and immediately reached for another.

"I usually eat in the workshop while I work," Tony explained, "but I didn't want to offend your delicate sensibilities by making you eat among my tools and dirty rags."

"You would have to try harder than that to shock me," Loki said. "I have dined in the wilderness many times while hunting. Your workshop is hardly the worst place I have ever eaten in."

"Still," Tony said, "most people refuse to eat there. I thought I might warn you, since it looks like you're going to be visiting sometimes." And boy, that was a horrible thought.

Loki ate the rest of the ham pizza before he spoke again: "This is quite tasty."

"Yeah, I can't believe you guys don't have pizza on Asgard. You're seriously missing out. There are like a hundred different toppings you can put on this, so there's bound to be a pizza for pretty much anyone." Tony gestured to the rest of the boxes. "Try the others and tell me what you think."

The god didn't need to be asked twice. He ate in a slightly more refined manner than Thor, but he still managed to polish off three whole pizzas in one sitting. Tony couldn't help but wonder if this was his normal appetite, or if he had been unusually hungry. Where did he eat, anyway, when he wasn't hanging around Tony? And where was he staying? Did he magic his way into some hotel, or was he homeless? Tony had never bothered to think about it before, but now it nagged him a bit. He wasn't going to ask, though, because Loki wouldn't answer him anyway. If there was one thing Loki had in abundance, it was pride. Even if he were homeless, he would probably never admit it. That meant Tony would just have to find out about it on his own.

He was brought out of his thoughts by JARVIS's voice.

"Sir? May I remind you that you have a gala event that starts in an hour?"

"Which one is it?" Tony had stopped paying attention to his schedule years ago.

"It's the event organized by the charities that fund education in Africa," JARVIS reminded him helpfully.

"Right," Tony said. "Starving children. Important stuff. I should probably be there."

"That would be for the best, sir."

"Yeah." He turned to Loki, stuffing one last bite into his mouth. "Sorry, I've gotta cut this short. I've got a thing to get to. You can come some other time and we'll discuss the designs." He gestured at the half-empty boxes. "You can eat the rest of the pizza too, if you want – if not, put it in the fridge. JARVIS can tell you what it is. I've gotta run."

"I see," Loki said. "I will come back tomorrow to continue today's discussion."

"Yeah, you do that," Tony uttered as he strode from the room, not even bothering with a goodbye. His mind was already elsewhere, sorting through the stuff he had neglected today.

He came to the living room twenty minutes later, sharply dressed and blessedly oil-free, to find Loki still lurking around the kitchen doorway.

"Oh," Tony said. "You're still here." He hadn't counted on the guy to stick around.

"I suppose I should thank you for the food you have provided," Loki said, looking formal and uncomfortable.

"Yeah, don't mention it." Tony said. "It's just pizza. Anyway, see you tomorrow."

When he returned at three in the morning with a giggling Playboy model on his arm, Loki was gone.

* * *

><p>Almost a week passed before Loki appeared again. Tony had spent the first day feeling tense and expecting the guy to pop up anytime, but when he didn't, Tony just shrugged and cranked the music even louder. Hey, it was none of his business if the demigod got delayed or if he was feeling too lazy to come. If this were Tony's choice, there wouldn't <em>be<em> any deal in the first place.

Honestly, it was a small miracle that the Avengers hadn't found out about Loki yet. It made Tony wonder whether Loki had some sort of cloaking spell on, or if the Avengers already knew and were simply waiting for the right time to strike. For a few minutes he entertained himself by imagining the Avengers barging into his workshop to fight the Asgardian - Hawkeye swinging head-down from the workshop ceiling, the Captain smashing his shield through the reinforced glass by the stairs, but then he had JARVIS estimate the cost of damages his fellow heroes would wreck on the workshop and quickly reconsidered. If the Avengers wanted to have it out with Loki, he certainly wouldn't stand in their way, but nobody was going to fight in his workshop. It was enough that he had to repair all the smashed equipment his own experiments frequently caused. He refused to clean up after others as well.

When Loki finally appeared again, it was Saturday and Tony was standing in the middle of his workshop surrounded by his three bots. Loki stepped out of his portal on the other side of the room and looked around, frowning when he didn't see Tony in his customary place. His gaze slid over the display cases with the older armor models and the workbenches overflowing with half-finished prototypes, until it finally landed on Tony and his robots. He had never paid much attention to them beside the occasional brief look but now he came closer, looking puzzled.

"What are you doing with those machines?" he asked the engineer.

"We're having a family meeting," Tony told him. "Don't interfere."

He turned back to the bots.

"I'm going to only ask this once and if you don't answer me, I will donate each and every one of you to the tech branch of the local university," he said, making sure to use his sternest voice. "So guys, 'fess up – which one of you spilled motor oil all over my chair while I was upstairs?"

There was a long beat of silence where nothing moved as the bots contemplated their options. Then, moving as one, Butterfingers and You pointed at Dummy while Dummy swung his claw towards Butterfingers. Tony crossed his arms.

"Dummy?" The robotic claw lifted towards him. "Is there anything you wish to tell me?"

Dummy rotated his claw-head forty degrees, doing his best "who, me?" expression.

"That innocent act doesn't work on me, buddy," Tony informed him. "I know that it was you – your wheels are still trailing grease all over the floor." Dummy looked down to check if it was true, then promptly dropped his claw even lower, assuming his best pitiful pose. Tony smothered a grin.

"And no," he said with a perfectly serious face, "that doesn't work on me, either. You should know that by now."

Dummy's claw dropped even lower, until it was almost trailing the floor.

"What should I do with you, Dummy?" Tony gave him his best "I am disappointed in you" face. He had learned that one from Howard, who had worn it almost constantly around him. "Not only do you destroy my stuff, but you tried to lie to me as well. Why would I keep a useless bot like that around?"

Instead of looking contrite, like Tony had hoped, Dummy suddenly raised his metallic head and rolled over to Loki, claw clicking as he viewed the man.

"No, Loki won't save you, either."

For the first time since Tony had told him to shut up, Loki moved. He took a step towards Dummy, eyeing the bot with open curiosity.

"Is this another one of your creations?" he asked Tony, still studying the robot.

"Yeah," Tony said, a hint of pride creeping into his voice. "He's my eldest. Older than JARVIS, even."

"He seems fairly intelligent," Loki remarked.

"'Seems' being the key word here," Tony pointed out. "He's a helper bot. I made him to help me with stuff around the workshop. He's got a learning program that allows him to pick up new information over the years."

"He is a machine with a mind of its own?" Loki suddenly looked a lot more interested in the bots than ever before. Tony shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. He was created to be self-sufficient. I tweak his code a few times a year, but he learns most of the stuff on his own."

"So you didn't teach him to lie?" Loki gave Tony a look.

Tony shook his head. "No. God knows where he picked that up."

"I believe he learned that from observing you, sir," JARVIS's voice chimed from the ceiling.

"Are you saying that I'm a liar, JARVIS?" Tony's voice took on a slightly dangerous tone.

"No, sir. It was a simple observation. You _are_ quite skilled at deceiving the people around you. That is a fact. It appears that Dummy has decided to try and emulate some of your behavioral patterns."

"Listen, buddy," Tony told JARVIS. "You and I are going to have a long conversation about the disclosure of my behavioral patterns later. But we are discussing Dummy right now, not me." He fixed his gaze back on the bot in question. "So, Dummy, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Dummy stood in place for a few seconds before rolling away and picking up a rag from a pile somewhere. He wheeled back a few seconds later and started tentatively scrubbing at the oil slick on the concrete floor.

"That's a good boy," Tony praised him. "Now clean up the oil you spilled. And if you ever try to lie to me again, I will turn you into a moving target and give you to Barton." Dummy looked up in alarm. "Don't think that I won't," Tony warned him. "Now chop chop, I want this floor clean."

He turned away, only to find himself face to face with Loki's amused smirk.

"What?"

"You have an interesting manner of interacting with your servants."

Tony shot him a warning look. "If you are planning to tell me it makes me look insane, don't bother. I've heard it all before."

"On the contrary," Loki said. "I think it is fascinating. You have managed to create artificial beings that are capable of independent thought. I have seen mages conjure up spirits and familiars, but I have never known anyone who could do the same with metal. The closest anyone came to that was the Destroyer guarding the Asgardian Vault, and even he was a mindless metal beast that was fully tied to the will of its master."

Tony shrugged, unsure what to think of Loki praising anything about him.

"Yeah, I don't think anyone here has anything like it, either." When Loki continued eyeing the bots with interest, Tony made a decision. He beckoned closer the other two bots that were still standing by the bench. "Come here, guys. I think some introductions are in order."

The bots rolled over obediently, coming to stand in front of the two men.

"This is Butterfingers," he pointed at one bot, "and this is You. Guys, this is Loki, he will be coming around to the workshop sometimes, so don't bother him. If you piss him off, you may end up getting smashed to smithereens. Understood?" Both bots nodded. "Awesome. Now get back to your work."

"They do not speak?" Loki asked as he watched the bots return to their previous stations.

"No," Tony confirmed. "I didn't give them a voice program and I don't plan to. I would never have any peace down here if I did that. JARVIS is more than enough."

"Those two seem a bit more obedient than the first one," Loki noted.

"They are," Tony confirmed. "I made Dummy when I was seventeen and didn't have a clue what I was doing, and it shows. Butterfingers and You were made at the same time, several years after Dummy, so there aren't as many glitches in their code. They are all supposed to be helper bots, but sometimes they are more of a hindrance than help."

"Why do you not improve them, then, or replace them, if they do not do what you want from them?"

Tony's eyes wandered to the lone bot who was still rubbing inefficiently at the oily stain on the floor. Both Rhodey and Pepper had asked him that question countless times over the years and he had never been able to explain it in a way that would make them understand.

"They may be useless, but they're mine," he said finally, observing the bots with a fond smile. "They all have their own personalities. If I wiped them, I would lose all that. Dummy in particular has been with me longer than anyone else. He even saved my life once." He suppressed a shudder at the memory.

"What did he do?" Loki's question snapped Tony out of his reverie.

"And that's one thing I'm definitely not telling you about."

The last thing Loki needed to know was just how easy it was to kill Tony. He avoided Loki's gaze and strode back to his desk.

"All right, break is over. I suppose we should get back to the designs." He clapped his hands and the monitors sprang to life, showing several different concepts. "Take your pick. I tried to incorporate the elements you wanted, but since I've never made any of this medieval-type stuff before, I have no idea what works best."

He took a step to the side to allow Loki to study the designs.

"You can either pick one of these as a start, or you can draw one of your own, if you prefer. These are pretty much just preliminary concepts that I came up with. I will also need your help with the materials."

He gestured for the god to follow him to a different workbench, which had several different plates of metal lying on it.

"I've made several different alloys that I need you to test. I had always thought my own gold-titanium alloy was pretty tough, until Thor crumpled it like paper, almost breaking my arms in the process." And yeah, that wasn't a pleasant memory either. To banish it, he focused on the metal plates on the bench in front of him. "So, I've tried to make something sturdier, but I haven't tested these yet. The first test is obviously strength. If they pass, you could try casting some magic on them. Are you on board?"

Loki reached for the first metal plate, weighting it in his hand. "What do you wish me to do with it?"

"Try to bend it," Tony said. "Or crumple it. Smashing is also good, as long as it doesn't smash a hole in my floor in the process. I need to see how much brute force these alloys can withstand."

Loki gave a disdainful snort. "I'm not an oaf, unlike my brother."

"Yeah, the guy certainly loves his hammer," Tony uttered, which made Loki snort again, this time in amusement. "But I know you're pretty strong, too, so I'm sure you can do this. You may not be Hulk incarnate, I'm sure you can still do a fair bit of damage." And all right, he wasn't above using a little underhanded flattery because the more work the god was willing to put into this, the better for Tony. "We need to see how much force these alloys can stand and there's only so much I can test with machines. Come on, give it a try."

Loki took hold of the metal on opposite sides and proceeded to bend it into a pretzel without even breaking a sweat.

"Okay," Tony said when the metal landed back on the bench, doing his best to sound normal and not at all weirded out. "Try the others."

Loki spent the next ten minutes bending and breaking various pieces of metal while Tony monitored the reactions of the materials and tried not to show how impressed he was by the display of strength. It was one thing to know that Loki was from a race of freakishly strong aliens and another to see it with his own eyes. When Loki snapped a titanium rod in two like it was a twig, Tony felt a new-found appreciation for his own continued existence. If the god had wanted, he could have killed Tony effortlessly during the Chitauri attack on New York. That he was still alive today was really a small miracle.

"Well, that was impressive," he admitted grudgingly when Loki put down the last metal plate. The demigod managed to bend or break almost all the alloys, except for two.

"What are these?" Loki gestured to the two plates, which were only slightly bent.

"Steel alloys," Tony answered. "One is infused with nickel, the other with titanium. I would have tried adamantium too if I could, but I haven't been able to get my hands on any, despite having tried for years."

"So, steel seems to be the most resilient after all." Loki said haughtily. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, steel is the best. Sorry for laughing at your armor before. I stand corrected."

"Why do you not use this alloy for your own armor, if you are capable of manufacturing it?" Loki seemed genuinely curious.

"Because it would weight a fucking ton and I need dexterity when I'm flying." To demonstrate, he lifted the strongest steel plate from the bench, his arm muscles working to keep it balanced in the air. "Just this little piece of metal weights a good twenty-five pounds. My armor already weights over two hundred pounds. If I used steel, I wouldn't be able to even lift off the ground, much less perform evasive maneuvers. I had to sacrifice some protection for functionality and I have to say, it's been working pretty well for me so far, if I don't count the fight against your brother."

He returned the steel plate back to the bench.

"But, since you don't seem to be concerned with the weight of the material and prefer resilience, I can go for the heavy stuff."

"You certainly can," Loki said. "But the materials you have here are still nowhere near as strong as the Asgardian Steel that my current armor is made of."

"Yeah, I get that." Even if it pissed him off a little, because the fact that a bunch of guys who didn't even have cable TV could make better stuff than him was just insulting. "I'll use these as a basis for future variations. I suspect it will take several rounds of testing before we land on anything viable." Something suddenly occurred to him. "Wait, what is Thor's hammer made of? I've scanned it when he wasn't looking and that's certainly not steel."

He pulled up a screen in the air and dug up those results, frowning at the numbers.

"It's a metal called Uru." For some reason, Loki looked resentful when he said it. "It is a rare metal made by the dwarves on Nidavellir."

Tony perked up. "Is there any way I can get in touch with those dwarves? Because that stuff would be perfect."

"They don't deal with anyone, much less a mortal," Loki said. "And I wouldn't be able to enter their world anyway, because I was banished from there long ago."

"What? Did you steal their gold or something?" For some reason, Tony's mind conjured up an image of Loki turning into a dragon and plundering a cave full of tiny people.

"Or something, yes."

From his closed-off expression, Tony concluded that this was another one of those _things they didn't talk about_. They were quite a few of them already on both sides. Tony wondered if he should start keeping a list.

"Okay, so no Uru. That's a bummer, but I'm sure I can work around that. Figuring out the right metal will be a trifle, anyway. The real problem that I haven't managed to solve yet is how to magic-proof the damn thing. To be honest, I don't have the faintest clue how to go about that." He gave Loki a look. "Do you have any tips on that front?"

"I have a few ideas that might be viable," Loki rounded the table to come stand in front of Tony. "But first," he said, blue flames erupting around his hand, "why don't you start with the metal embedded in your chest?" Before Tony could react, he raised his hand and tapped his pointer finger twice against the center of the arc reactor in Tony's chest. The flames died at once. He lifted his gaze from the arc reactor back to Tony's eyes, lifting an eyebrow. "It seems to stop magic quite effectively."

"_Jesus Christ_." Tony took a step back, and then another one until his back hit another bench a few feet behind him. He slapped his right hand over the light in his chest and tried to slow down his heart, which was running a mile a minute. He took a few deep breaths, trying to fight down the instinctive fear that always rose up whenever someone tried to touch his arc reactor. "Don't ever, _ever_, do that again," he told Loki, his voice dropping into its most dangerous register.

Loki gave him a look of false innocence. "Don't do what?"

"Touch me without me permission."

"And _with_ your permission?" Was that Tony's imagination, or was Loki's tone almost…playful?

Tony had fully intended to tell him to piss of, but the unexpected turn of conversation took him by surprise, so instead he found himself muttering: "We'll see about that."

He promptly turned his back on Loki and went to his desk. _God_, he needed a drink.

"Also, I would appreciate a warning the next time if you plan on using magic like that on me again. It's nice to know that the metal seems to work as a magic block, but I seriously hate surprises like this."

Loki followed a few steps after him, wearing a puzzled frown. "You did not seem this affected when I tried to use the scepter on you before."

Tony took a few swigs before answering. "Oh no, I was plenty affected, I just didn't let you see it."

"You bluffed." Loki actually seemed impressed. "I thought that the Widow was the accomplished liar among your little band of heroes, but it seems she's not the only one."

Tony shrugged. "I needed to get a new armor because the previous one was busted. The drink was just a distraction to keep you talking."

"Hm, I do not know which is more interesting – that you tried to lie to the God of Lies, or that you succeeded."

"What can I say?" Tony shrugged. "I'm just awesome like that."

Loki didn't say anything to that, just stood a few feet away with a strange expression of intrigue on his face. And all right, Tony had been hit on by guys before, but this was weirding him out a bit. What kind of person got turned on by the revelation that someone had lied to them?

Loki, apparently.

Before he figured out how to deal with the bizarre situation, JARVIS spoke up: "You have an incoming call, sir."

Tony looked up. "Who is it?"

"The Avengers are calling for assembly." That made Tony put the bottle back on the desk and stand up a little straighter.

"Patch it through," Tony told him, already walking over to the case with the Mark XI armor.

"Iron Man?" that was Steve's soldier voice. "Suit up."

"What's going on?" Tony raised his arms to help the assembly robots put it on him.

"We've got a situation near Central Park. Someone opened a portal on the 5th Avenue and unleashed an army of robots on the city."

"Damn it," Tony sighed. "Why is it always portals?"

"You tell me," Steve said. "Anyway, get here as fast as you can. Those robots can fly, so we desperately need aerial support."

"I'll be there in half an hour. Think you can hold them for that long?"

"We don't have a choice," Steve answered. "Thor is back in London, so he will probably arrive even later than you."

Armor in place, Tony slapped his faceplate down, gave Loki a lazy wave and kicked off, speeding through the tunnel that led outside.

"I'll see what I can do."

"You know, this would be a lot easier if you lived here with us," Bruce's voice came over the intercom. Tony suppressed the urge to sigh.

"And who would protect the West Coast from random attacks, huh? Remember that freaky medusa-octopus thing that crawled out of the sewer in L.A. two months ago?"

"Yes, we do," Natasha answered. "As I recall, the Mayor wasn't very pleased when you detonated it all over the Hollywood Boulevard."

"I paid for the cleanup," Tony pointed out. "In fact, I pay for most of the damages that our fights cause. They really should appreciate us more."

"Try telling that to the guy who got a Leviathan thrown over his apartment building," Hawkeye quipped.

"Anyway," Tony said, "do we know who today's bad guy is?"

"SHIELD intel says it's probably Doctor Doom," Natasha said. "They ran an analysis of the appearance and abilities of the robots and they seem to be similar to what we fought the last time."

Fuck, Tony hated Doom. He had a stupid pompous manner and those flying bots of his were just creepy. Worse, Tony hadn't managed to capture any part of them before they fled the scene the last time, so he still had no idea how they even worked. He would definitely have to take one home to study today. Their magic-based abilities freaked him out a bit and he desperately wanted to find a way to counter them.

Something occurred to him as he thought about that.

"Hey, is Doom using any magic today?"

There was a beat of silence before Bruce answered: "Well, the big purple portal in time-space continuum that's hovering in the middle of the street seems plenty magical to me."

"All right," Tony said. "Try to keep them occupied. I should be there in twenty minutes."

"Roger that," Steve said before the line went dead.

* * *

><p>In the end it took Tony about twenty five minutes to reach New York. He'd gone supersonic as soon as he could, blasting his way across the continent. The ground turned into a blur beneath him, the states all blending into one endless stretch of green and brown and grey. He barely paid any attention to where he was going, trusting JARVIS to pilot the suit for him and instead listened to the comms from the battle. The Avengers were still fighting and as far as he could tell, they hadn't had much success containing the Doombots yet. The suckers had spread over several blocks, destroying everything in their path and with the lack of aerial support, the Avengers had a serious problem tracking them all down.<p>

Cursing the distance for the first time in a while, Tony sped up even more, counting the minutes until his arrival. The others had been fighting the bots for over half an hour now and still hadn't been able to take out all of them. He'd have to show them how it's done.

The New York skyline finally came into view a few minutes later and Tony zeroed in on Steve's signal, using it to navigate the endless blocks of Manhattan. In the end he didn't even need the GPS, because the Hulk's deafening roar was the only answer he needed to know that he had arrived to the right place. He briefly paused to hover over the middle of the street, taking in the scene.

The Doombots were all over the place, zooming up and down the street and attacking everything in sight. Tony sent out a barrage of small targeted missiles, shooting down the nearest half dozen robots before he set off to hunt down the rest. The bots were fairly small, definitely smaller than a human and aside from shooting lighting at random cars and frightened passersby, they didn't really seem to do much. Lower down the street Tony could see the Cap and the Hulk battling several human-looking robots, but the guys seemed to have the situation more or less under control so Tony decided to shoot down the rest of the flying bastards instead.

He briefly passed Hawkeye, who was sitting on top of one of the nearby buildings, looking annoyed. Probably because he had run out of arrows. Sucked to be him. Tony gave him a cheerful wave, shooting down a few more of the barrel-sized bots in the process.

Five minutes later, most of the surrounding streets were blessedly bot-free.

"Hey guys," he said into the intercom. "I think I got all the bastards. Where's our main star of the evening?"

"If you're talking about Doctor Doom," Steve answered, "I last saw him near the portal two blocks down the street."

"Hawk?" Tony asked just to be sure.

"Yeah, he's still there," Hawkeye confirmed. "He's hovering around, looking creepy. Be careful when you approach him, he's got the whole magic lighting thing going on."

"Right," Tony said. "I'm on it."

And really, after having gone toe-to-toe with Thor, Doom was small fries. Also, Tony had just spent two days in the company of a half-mad Asgardian deity, and somehow managed to survive. A third-rate mage from Europe really didn't seem all that intimidating in comparison.

It didn't take him long before he saw the guy himself, hovering ominously a few feet from the large pink-purple portal, just as Hawk had said. Tony made a beeline for him, wanting to get this over with.

"Who dares approach me?" the figure rumbled when Tony flew closer. "Who dares challenge the might of DOOM?"

"Um, that would be me," Tony said, landing several dozen feet away. "Hi. Welcome to New York. Now kindly take the rest of your bots and fuck off before I blast you into space." All right, he would be the first to admit that he wasn't very good at this whole diplomacy shtick.

"WHO are you to think you can SPEAK to me such?"

"The guy with the better suit?" Tony tried, absent-mindedly shooting down a few bots that tried to sneak up on him from behind. "Between the two of us, there's only one guy using jetpacks here. What are you, the Rocketeer? Seriously, dude, you should work on your tech a bit, because this whole getup looks like it was made before the Renaissance." He shot down another bot with his repulsor.

"SILENCE, WHELP! You will GROVEL at my feet!" Doom thundered. "NOBODY defeats DOOM, for I am supreme."

"And they say _**I**_ have an ego," Tony quipped, dodging a bolt of lighting from Doom's hand. In return, he aimed both his repulsors at the guy's chest and grinned a bit when the warlock flew back several dozen feet, crashing into a building. Tony flew after him, landing only a few feet away and hitting him with another blast before he could get up from the pile of rubble.

"See? Technology," Tony told him. "You should try it sometime."

"You're a FOOL if you think you can defeat ME," Doom said, rising up from the sidewalk. Tony contemplated shooting him again, but then he remembered what Loki had said about his arc reactor. What better way to test that theory than on a guy in a magic-powered suit?

Doom tried to shoot him with a lightning bolt but Tony powered through it, his suit absorbing the energy, just like it had done with Thor's electricity. He took a few steps closer and grabbed Doom by the neck with both hands, lifting him off his feet a little.

"Hey, how about a hug?" Tony asked, pulling the man close to his arc reactor. If this didn't work, he could always shoot him later. Doom grabbed hold of his arms, trying to dislodge Tony's grip, but the Iron Man armor held fast. "You've already done enough damage here today. I think it's time for a nap."

"Iron Man?" Steve asked in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"An experiment," Tony answered, most of his attention focused on his struggle with the wizard. "Give me a minute."

Inch by inch, Tony pulled him closer, ignoring the current of lightning that was now enveloping them both. Half a foot away and still no interruption in the flow of magic. Well, it looked like he would have to get up close and personal for this.

Tony dislodged one hand from Doom's neck and grabbed Doom's left wrist instead, pulling it close with a sharp jerk to press the hand against the arc reactor in his suit in a twisted parody of a romantic gesture. He kept his grip on Doom's neck with the other hand, doing his best to ignore the metal glove that was slowly crushing his left forearm even as he made sure to keep the other hand connected to the arc reactor. It took less than five seconds before the magic in the figure pressed to him shut off, causing the man to pitch forward.

Tony caught him as he was falling, tilting him back to stand against the wall instead. Judging by the lack of sentient response from within the suit, this was probably a decoy, instead of the real Doctor Doom. Pity.

"Hey guys?" Tony said into the comm. "I think I caught us a Doombot. Turns out it was just another decoy, instead of the real guy. I managed to turn him off. What should I do with him?"

"Wait there," Steve ordered. "We still need to close the portal."

"Right," Tony said, feeling very pleased with himself. He poked the motionless figure with his glove, opening the chest plate to peek inside. "Well hello there, gorgeous," he purred in a tone he usually used for his romantic conquest. It was well deserved in this case, because the wiring of the suit in front of him was just _exquisite_. "It's your lucky day. You're coming home with me tonight. You and I are going to have so much fun in my lab, you have no idea."

"God, Stark, do you have any idea how creepy that is?" Hawkeye chimed in, interrupting Tony's moment of triumph. "I really didn't wish to know what you do with all the freaky stuff in your workroom."

"Well, now you do," Tony told him cheerfully, doing his best to ignore the gagging sounds from the other side of the comm.

"Gentlemen, please," Widow spoke up. "You can discuss your fetishes later. We still need to close that portal."

"I'll take a look at it," Tony said, turning his head to let JARVIS run an analysis for him. He was so caught up in trying to come up with a way to close the bizarre magic wheel levitating in mid-air over the street that he almost missed the moment when the Doombot's eyes lit up again. The figure shot out a hand, holding Tony in place even as the unrelenting grip dented the Iron Man suit even further.

"Not so fast," he said, the suit giving a horrible-sounding lurch. "NOBODY walks away from Doom ALIVE!"

That was the only warning Tony got before the figure pulled him close and the world exploded into a thousand pieces. The blast shook the whole street, throwing Tony several dozen feet, until he landed hard on the opposite side of the road, the dampeners inside the suit doing their best to cushion the fall. He remained lying in the ruins of a broken wall, feeling utterly disoriented. His ears had been blasted by the explosion and the HUD display had gone dark, so the only feeing left was the dizzying rush of blood in his veins.

'_Good thing I didn't pull up my faceplate'_ was Tony's last thought before the darkness swallowed him.

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I have to confess that I have never actually read any of the Marvel comics. They were virtually impossible to get in my country when I was a kid and now that I'm an adult with access to the internet, I frankly have no idea where to start, because there are so many of them. Most of my knowledge about these characters comes from the movies, Marvel Wiki and various fanfics I have read over the year.

Therefore I will be taking huge liberties both with the plot and with some of the character abilities (mainly Doom), so don't expect this story to be terribly accurate cannon-wise. I'll try my best with the characters, but the rules of the world around them will probably get bend a lot (mostly to serve the plot). You can feel free to point out any inaccuracies you spot, but unless it's something really crucial, I probably won't change the story just to accommodate every detail.

Thank you for understanding and I hope you will enjoy the story anyway :) The next chapter will be up on Friday, December 19.


	5. An Unpleasant Awakening

**Chapter 5 – An Unpleasant Awakening**

Summary: In which Tony has a concussion and Loki refuses to leave.

* * *

><p>The ceiling was a painfully bright shade of white. Huh. Tony didn't have any white ceilings at home which probably meant that he was in a hospital. Again.<p>

He blinked a few times and managed to sit up with some difficulty, only to promptly start feeling dizzy. His dignity didn't allow him to lie back down, so he put his head in his hands and closed his eyes, waiting for the vertigo to pass. Only, one of his hands didn't quite fit the right way over his face – wait, was that a cast? That must have been one hell of a party yesterday, if he felt like this. Or, more likely, one hell of a fight.

Bit by bit, the details of the fight started coming back to him. Huge purple portal. Creepy robotic Doom lookalike and his army of minions. Tony's own struggle with the robot. And then just pain. The bastard must have broken his arm before he blew up, but Tony hadn't even noticed, too surprised by the sudden reactivation of the bot to react in time. He sighed. This is what he got for trying to save everyone's asses.

Before he could start putting together a revenge plan, the door to the room opened and Steve strode in, looking amazingly put-together in his typical khaki slacks and button-down shirt. The only hint that he had been fighting a power-hungry villain was a faint bruise on his left cheek – if he didn't have that, one would have no idea he had even fought anyone in the first place.

The forearm under his cast twanged painfully in protest as Tony raised in in welcome and he suddenly felt deeply envious of Steve's superhuman healing abilities. Healing broken bones would be a bitch.

"Hey there, Cap."

"Hello, Tony." Steve gave him a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just went five rounds with the Hulk and lost. What happened?"

Steve pulled up a chair to the bed and sat down.

"After you drove the Doombot to self-destruct, the rest of the robots on scene scattered. Some of them managed to escape back through the portal before it collapsed and the rest of them flew around until Thor and the Hulk smashed them."

"So we won," Tony concluded. "Thank fuck."

"Language, Tony," Steve admonished him. Tony threw him a dirty look.

"I just survived having a crazy suicidal robot blow up in my face. That earns me some slack. Where's my armor, by the way? If Fury got his hands on it, I'm gonna kick his ass, cast or not."

"Your suit is back at the Avenger Tower."

"Good." Tony reached over to the bedside table for a glass of water and drained half of it in a few gulps. "So, when can I leave this joint?"

"You have only been here for a few hours," Steve informed him. "You were unconscious when you were brought in, but woke up soon after that. Do you remember any of that?"

"No," Tony answered. "I only recall the explosion and then I woke up here." Now that he thought about it, he did have a vague recollection of someone shining a light in his eyes and wanting him to answer questions about the president.

"The doctors said you might have some trouble remembering things after the explosion, because you suffered a concussion. Luckily for you, the concussion isn't very serious. They did a few brain scans and concluded that you will be fine once you have some rest. They want you to stay here overnight for observations and if everything looks good, you should get the all-clear tomorrow."

"Awesome." Tony swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "I'm going now."

"Tony!" Steve jumped to his feet. "You cannot leave yet. You're supposed to be resting."

Tony gave him an unimpressed look when the soldier moved to push him back into bed.

"I can do that in the tower. Now help me to the door so I can sign the papers. I'm not spending a minute longer in here than I have to."

He was feeling anxious to get back to his suit and check that it hadn't been tampered with. He hated getting knocked out, because it always increased the chance that someone from SHIELD could steal his suit under the guise of "safekeeping". He knew Fury had been itching to get his hands on it for years – only Tony's stubborn refusal to give it to anyone else had prevented SHIELD from stealing all his schematics.

With Steve's help he eventually managed to get himself dressed in a nice suit (there was no way in hell he would ever get himself snapped by paparazzi wearing one of those backless hospital monstrosities), checked out of the hospital and seated in a car in less than half an hour. He settled back into the seat with a sigh, watching the streets of New York pass by in a blur. Steve was still wearing that disapproving expression, so Tony chose to ignore him. He might disapprove, but he had helped Tony escape the hospital nonetheless. Clearly his convictions could be flexible, when he wanted them to be, which suited Tony just fine.

As Avenger Tower came into view, Tony couldn't help but wonder what Loki had done after Tony's unexpected departure. Left, probably, or at least Tony hoped he did. He dreaded to think about what a guy like him could do to his workshop if left unsupervised. He'd have to check with JARVIS as soon as he was alone. Which was going to be soon, hopefully.

The Avengers were waiting for him on the common floor when he and Steve arrived and he gave them a tired wave as a greeting, focusing most of his energy on walking straight. Despite what he had told Steve, he wasn't feeling too great and couldn't wait to go lay down. Luckily for him, nobody tried to stop him when he announced he was going to bed. It was clear that the Avengers wanted a debrief on his fight with Doom, but he must have looked awful enough that they let him go without a single question. Which was great, because he was just about to crash.

Still, he needed to check on the armor before he went to sleep, so he left the good Captain back at the shared floor and rode up to the penthouse alone. The suit stood tall and proud in the middle of the living room and Tony was so happy to see it he could have cried. As it was, he settled for patting the metal fondly, noting with annoyance the scratches and burns that the fight with the Doombot had caused.

"Don't worry, baby, I'm gonna patch you right up," he muttered, giving the armor one last pat before stumbling over to the bar to pour himself half a glass of something good. Yes it was fucking idiotic of him to drink booze on a concussion, but since Steve wasn't here to chew him out about it, Tony didn't care. God knew he'd done stupider things over the years. One drink wasn't going to kill him.

"Welcome back, sir," JARVIS chimed as he sat down.

"Did anybody mess with my suit while I was knocked out?" he asked, sipping at his brandy.

"No, sir. I am not aware of any attempts at tampering. I engaged the lockdown protocols as soon as you were out of the armor. The armor then flew back here and stayed here until you returned."

"Good job," Tony said. He fished out the painkillers that he got at the hospital and swallowed them dry before knocking back the rest of his glass. It was a good thing his bedroom was just around the corner, because he seriously didn't feel good.

"How's the situation back home?" he asked as he walked to the bedroom. "Is he gone?" He didn't mention a name, just in case one of Fury's minions had managed to plant a bug in his bar. He wouldn't put it past them.

"Not exactly, sir," JARVIS answered and was that Tony's imagination, or did he sound strangely reluctant?

"What do you mean, 'not exactly'?" And yes, finally, he had managed to reach the bedroom door. He clicked it shut behind him, feeling privacy envelop him like a favorite blanket. "What the hell is going on?"

"Your visitor is still present in the house. He has decided to wait for your return."

"He's still there?" Tony asked in disbelief. "But it's been hours! Does he have nothing better to do than snoop around my workshop?"

"Apparently not, sir. He hasn't broken anything yet, if it's any consolation."

"Have you tried throwing him out?"

"I have, sir," JARVIS confirmed. "He refuses to leave."

Muttering a curse, Tony ran a tired hand over his face.

"Can you patch him through for me?"

Instead of answering, JARVIS initiated the call straight away.

"Stark?" Loki sounded confused. Had he never talked to anyone on a phone before?

"Hey," Tony greeted. He pulled off his five thousand dollar jacket and let it fall to the floor, not giving a damn where it landed. "JARVIS tells me you've been staying over."

"Yes," Loki said. "Your servant claimed that you were occupied, so I decided to wait for your return. Is that a problem?"

Tony yawned. "Not really. I've got space enough. I just thought you might have better things to do than hang around my house."

"I use my time as I see fit," Loki informed him archly. Tony suppressed another yawn.

"Yea, you do that. Free will and all." He did a half-hearted fist bump. Deciding that an undershirt and boxers were undressed enough for him, he crawled into bed. "Look, if you're waiting for me, you're wasting your time. It will probably be a few days before I get back and when I do, I won't be able to work much anyway. If you have something else you can do for a few weeks, I highly recommend you go do it. There won't be any forging going on for at least a month."

"What happened?"

Tony shot his cast a glance. "I had a bit of a disagreement with some bad guys. Turns out those arm plates on my suit really aren't as resilient as I thought. I should really do something about them." He fought back another yawn. "So, are you going to leave now?"

"There is nothing pressing I have to do at the moment," Loki said. Wow, being dead must have been super dull, if 'hang around Tony's house with nothing to do' was Loki's most entertaining option.

"So that's a no, then." Tony could almost imagine his smug grin on the other side of the line. Loki could decide to move into Tony's house and there would be nothing Tony could do about it from his current position. And the bastard knew it.

"Your servant has granted me the use of your "sofa", as he calls it, for the night."

"Of course he did." Tony shot the ceiling a betrayed look. "He's polite like that, even to people who are holding my house hostage." It only took him a second to decide. "So hey, since you're going to stay the night anyway, you might as well ignore the sofa and borrow a bed instead. I've got a few spare bedrooms, choose whichever you want." The pain in his arm had receded and now he was feeling a bit loopy. "Wow these meds are good."

"Stark?" Loki sounded a little alarmed. "You sound odd."

"That's because I'm drugged to the gills," Tony told him, a happy drunken smile on his face. "They gave me the good meds. This is awesome." He drifted for a while before Loki's voice brought him back out of his reverie.

"Stark?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still here," Tony assured him. "Just really sleepy. You know what? Spend the night in the house and then go do whatever. I'll be back in a few days." His voice trailed off as he started falling asleep. "G'night."

* * *

><p>"I did <em>what<em>?" was Tony's first reaction when JARVIS helpfully relayed the conversation to him the next morning. "Why didn't you stop me?"

"You have full right to invite guests to your house as you see fit."

"But it's _Loki_," Tony protested. "With my luck the guy will take it as an invitation to stay permanently and I will never get rid of him."

"You are very resourceful, sir," JARVIS said comfortingly. "I'm sure you will find a way to get him out of your house, if you ever wish so."

"God, I hope. How long before I can get out of here?"

Between all the debriefings, health checks and meetings with the R&D department heads, it was almost another three days before Tony finally managed to tear himself away and escape from the tower. Of course, it didn't happen without an argument with the Avengers, who all insisted that he stay in the tower for longer, but Tony's resolve was firm. Loki's continued presence in his Malibu home made him nervous because he could easily imagine a thousand different ways the guy could sabotage his work while he was away. He needed to leave New York as soon as possible.

Eventually he managed to escape the Avengers' clutches, but the memory of Steve's disapproving face followed him all the way to the airport. He knew the guys weren't happy with his continued refusal to live in the tower, but it just felt wrong to stay there without Pepper by his side. The Tower had been mostly her idea, her baby, and it felt weird to live in the penthouse when she wasn't there.

To distract himself from thoughts of Pepper, he pulled out his laptop and checked the state of his projects, but even that didn't last him long. He ended up staring out of the window at the passing clouds. His arm was hurting with a dull, throbbing pain and he tried not to think about just how long it would take for it to fully heal.

"JARVIS," he called, looking for a distraction, any distraction. "Is Loki still hanging around?"

"Yes, sir, he is still present in the house."

"Has he burned down the house yet?"

"No, sir," JARVIS replied, "he has been mostly well-behaved so far. He did explore a few rooms that I explicitly forbid him from entering, but he hasn't damaged anything."

"I suppose we should be glad for that." Tony ran a hand over his face. "Still, he must be bored out of his mind."

"On the contrary, sir, he appears quite content at the moment." He hesitated for a second before continuing. "I took the liberty to order some groceries for him."

That made Tony sit up a little straighter. "You did what? What the hell did you get him?"

"Basic foodstuffs," JARVIS answered calmly. "Mostly meat and assorted vegetables. He seems to be an adequate cook."

"And he didn't blow up the kitchen?" Tony asked in disbelief. "Don't forget that he's the brother of the guy who managed to set my microwave on fire twice in the span of three days."

"No sir, he seemed to do quite well once I provided him with instructions on how your appliances worked."

"Huh." Who would have thought. "What else did he do?" Tony's curiosity was growing rapidly.

"He met the delivery person who brought your groceries."

"Is he an idiot? What if anyone saw his face and recognized him?"

"He seemed to solve that problem in a rather…unique fashion," JARVIS said delicately. "Please allow me to show you."

Tony pulled the notebook back into his lap and watched in fascination the security camera footage JARVIS played for him. It showed Loki walking into the entrance hall, but when he reached the door, his body suddenly shrunk by a foot and in his place was standing a kindly-looking old lady, who greeted the delivery boy pleasantly and took the grocery bags from him. Once the door closed, the figure turned back to Loki, who strode back to the kitchen with an air of absolute casualness. Tony tried not to gape, but wasn't very successful.

"Well, that was interesting," he said finally. "Does SHIELD know about this little trick of his?"

"I do not believe so, sir. Their information on Loki seems to be rather limited."

"So he can shapeshift," Tony said in the vague hope that if he says it out loud enough times, he might even start believing what he had just seen.

"Apparently, sir."

"That's good to know," Tony said weakly, his mind reeling with possibilities. He had a shapeshifter in the house, which meant that either it was Loki himself who could shapeshift, or it was someone else who had just assumed Loki's face to spy on Tony. If that were true, they could be anyone. Either way, this discovery wasn't good, because it was awakening Tony's latent paranoid tendencies and god knew he had plenty of those already. No need to stir up more.

"What is he doing now?"

"He is reading, sir. I navigated him to the library and he has been spending most of his time there."

"That's…good." If Loki was reading, it meant that he wasn't running around causing destruction. Tony idly wondered if he should order more books for the library. Maybe if he kept Loki busy, the guy would stop hanging around his workshop, too. It was definitely worth a try.

"We will be landing shortly, sir," JARVIS informed him half an hour later. "Should I alert your visitor that you're coming?"

"No," Tony decided. "Let's see how he'll react to a surprise visit.

* * *

><p>Loki was sprawled on the couch in the living room when Tony entered, reading a thick tome that Tony recognized as his first edition of Greek myths. He barely moved a muscle as Tony approached, but Tony could see that the god was fully aware of his presence – he was just ignoring Tony for the moment.<p>

Loki's focus on the book gave Tony a good opportunity to take a look at him. He had realized straight away that something was different, but now he could finally pinpoint what it was - Loki wasn't wearing his armor. For the first time since his return from the dead, he wasn't in full battle regalia. He must have shed that ridiculous leather coat as well, because he was wearing only a soft-looking dark green tunic and a pair of black leather pants.

So, this was what Loki looked like when he wasn't trying to murder people. Grudgingly, Tony had to admit that it wasn't a bad look. In fact, if they had met under different circumstances and Loki weren't a crazy conqueror-wannabe, Tony might have hit on him at one point or other. As it was, he was going to be happy enough if he survived this whole armor deal in one piece.

Tony was ten feet away from the sofa when Loki finally decided to raise his head from the book.

"Ah," he drawled, "the triumphant hero returns."

He put a bookmark in the book and sat up, giving Tony a thorough onceover, his eyes lingering on the cast and the few visible bruises.

"Or maybe not so triumphant."

Tony ignored the jibe, feeling too tired for an argument.

"I see you've discovered my library."

"Yes," Loki said. "I had to entertain myself somehow in your absence."

"You could have just left, you know," Tony pointed out. "I told you I wouldn't be able to work for you for a while." He gave Loki an annoyed look. "You're wasting your time here."

"I am merely protecting my investments." And that definitely sounded like a lie, but Tony didn't care enough to try and dig up the truth.

"Yeah, whatever." He turned his back on Loki and started walking towards the stairs. "I'm just gonna go say hi to my bots."

Tony punched in the code to the workshop door and walked in, automatically raising his hands to clap. The sling pulled at his arm, keeping it in place on his chest and he heaved an annoyed sigh. This was going to be a long month.

"Lights!" he called instead and watched his workshop come to life.

"Daddy's home!" he announced to his bots and had to smile when they all perked up, robotic claws rising and chirping in greeting. "Hi, guys."

He walked to his desk and sat down, feeling a bit lost. He had planned to work on so many things once he got home, but the broken arm had thrown a wrench in his projects. Sure, he could still draw and design, but the physical work would have to wait. No matter what he claimed to the various tech magazines that liked to interview him about his advancements of technology, privately he liked the physical work of invention more than the designing.

Sure, coming up with new designs and innovations was exhilarating – the thrill of discovery, the sheer possibilities - but there was something immensely satisfying about putting it all together and making it work. There were few moments in his life that could compare to first time he had booted up Dummy and watched him communicate with the world, clumsy but very much alive. No amount of lines on the paper could equal making his ideas come to life.

So yes, he could still design stuff while his arm was broken, but it would all be theoretical. His gaze swept over the workshop and its piles of half-finished stuff and he had to consciously stop himself from reaching for a blowtorch. The Mark XI stood in the empty space next to his cars, waiting to be repaired - a painful reminder that with the cast on his hand, he wouldn't be able to fly in the suit, either.

God, he hated this.

To distract himself, he pulled out a large tablet and started working on the schematics for the newest StarkPhone. His guys in the R&D departments had encountered a few glitches in the programming and had asked him to take a look at it, so it seemed like the perfect thing to work on right now. It didn't take him long to get lost in the long lines of code and before he knew it, midnight was long gone.

He was brought out of his concentration by Loki's amused voice.

"Do you ever stop working?"

"Sometimes," Tony answered. "I sleep?" And alright, he hadn't meant for that to come out as a question. "Does that count?"

"You really do love your work, don't you?" Loki had that tilt of his head that Tony had learned to recognize as interest and it set of a hundred warning bells in his mind. "Most people work because they must, but you, you work because you enjoy it. You are wealthy enough to never have to labour a single day in your life and yet you spend more time working than anyone I know."

"You don't know that many people, then." What the hell was he still doing here?

"Oh, I know plenty of people," Loki opposed. "Only, most of them aren't very interesting." He gave Tony a look. "You, on the other hand…" He trailed off, letting the words hang in the air between them like an invitation.

Oh, god, this was bad.

Tony could deal with Loki being interested in the armor and the development process, but this new personal interest was just…no. That way lay only danger and heartbreak and potential for widespread destruction and this was a horrible, _horrible_ idea. Now if only he could explain this to his libido, which was definitely taking interest in the situation.

He desperately searched for a way to change to topic.

"You were right, by the way," he said, latching onto the first thing that came to his mind. "The Arc Reactor does repel magic."

Loki blinked, probably surprised by the sudden turn of conversation, but his confusion didn't last long. A second later his smirk widened, making it clear that he was fully aware of Tony's attempts at derailment.

"I am always right," he said smugly.

"Well, from what I've heard you fucked up the whole coronation thing pretty spectacularly." That wiped the self-satisfied grin off Loki's face in in instant. "But hey, in this particular case you _were_ right."

Tony stood up and walked up to the suit to transfer the data about the fight onto the screen. He ignored the glare Loki was now sending at his back.

"I had to get pretty up close and personal with the guy to be able to test that theory, but it seems to work. I was able to change the electromagnetic pulse from the arc reactor to turn it into a small anti-magic field, which effectively short-circuited his suit." He saved the data on the screens and pulled up another one with a simulation of the reaction. "That didn't stop him from slamming me into a building, or breaking my arm, but it did seem to block his magic quite effectively."

Loki came closer, eyeing the burnt surface of the armor.

"What happened?"

Tony closed the screens with a wave of his hand.

"He got pissed and decided to self-destruct. Blew up right in my face."

Loki's expression turned incredulous. "The man committed suicide?"

"No," Tony corrected. "That was just one of his robotic minions. He loves to make copies of himself and set them loose on the populace. He controls them by magic from the distance somehow." His gaze fell on the burnt Mark XI armor, mind working at full speed. "I hope SHIELD managed to recover some of his stuff, because I really need it. I have to find a way to cut him off."

His voice trailed off as he got lost in thought and walked over to the nearest workbench to doodle equations on a spare piece of paper.

"I need to find a way to make the anti-magic field larger. Or maybe turn it into a ray of some sort?" He raised his hand to run it through his hair, but found the cast blocking his way. "Shit," he murmured, annoyed all over again. A movement from the corner of his eye made him look up, only to find Loki still present. Right. Loki.

"Oh hey," Tony said, a new idea taking life in his mind, "you could help me with that. I need to figure out the whole anti-magic thing for your armor anyway. This would just be making it bigger." He fought the urge to roll his eyes at Loki's sudden look of hesitation. "Look, if you're going to be hanging around, you might as well contribute. You know a lot more about this magic stuff than I do. If you can help me find a way to get rid of this guy, I can use it for your armor later."

Loki shook his head slightly.

"I am not sure if I want to help you facilitate a device that could be used against me later."

This time Tony did roll his eyes.

"Okay, whatever, suit yourself. I'll probably figure it out on my own sooner or later anyway."

"Yes, you probably will," Loki muttered. He gave Tony a resigned look. "Very well, I will assist you with this endeavour. Be aware though that I am only doing it to speed up the fabrication process. It would be most inconvenient if you perished before the armour could be completed."

"Yeah, inconvenient," Tony muttered, trying not to snort. "That's one way to put it."

An awkward silence settled over the workshop. Tony tried to get back to work, but Loki's presence disrupted his concentration.

"You're not wearing your armor," he said finally, just to fill the silence somehow.

Loki raised an eyebrow.

"You did not think I wear armor all the time, did you?"

Tony shrugged.

"I don't know, from what I've seen, Thor practically sleeps in his when he's at the tower. At least," he added, "that's what it looks like. I didn't really bother to check."

"I am not Thor," Loki pointed out.

"No, you're not," Tony agreed.

Loki took a few steps closer and propped his hands on the opposite side of the table from Tony to lean towards him in a little.

"I have been to your house several times now and you never tried to attack or capture me. I suppose that earns you a measure of trust on my part." He gave Tony a sharp look. "Do not disappoint me. If I learn that you took advantage of this in some way, I will take revenge."

Tony fought the urge to roll his eyes again. Really, drama queens had nothing on Loki.

"Yeah, sure," he said in a low voice. His forearm twanged, reminding him that his current meds were wearing off. He'd have to take another dose soon. "Anyway, you have nothing to worry about from me for the foreseeable future." He gestured to his broken arm. "An angry kitten is more dangerous than me right now." And yeah, that knowledge stung.

Loki was undeterred, however. He leaned even closer over the table, holding Tony's gaze.

"Oh, I think you could be very dangerous, if you wanted," his voice had dropped into a lower register that conjured up all sorts of filthy things in Tony's mind. Tony swallowed, trying to come up with a comeback. Luckily, his arm started to seriously hurt at that moment, so he used that as an excuse to turn his back on Loki and go search for his meds.

"Dummy, could you get me a glass of water?"

The bot rolled away obediently and Tony fished out the bottle of pills from his pocket, trying to open it. Child-proof caps were a bitch to open with one hand. As he wrestled with the lid, the bottle slid from his grasp and fell on the table, spilling the pills everywhere. Out of instinct, Tony reached out to catch them before they could roll onto the floor and he managed to bang his left hand on the edge of the table. He hissed out loud when pain spread like flames down his forearm, turning his world blinding white for a few seconds. Tony stopped his string of swear words when Dummy came up with the glass of water and swallowed three pills, washing them down with water. It would take a while for the pills to take effect, but at least he would be pain-free for another few hours.

As he struggled to put the spilled meds back to the bottle and screw the lid back on with only one hand, he caught Loki's thoughtful gaze on him. Seriously, why was the guy still here? Did it make him feel good to see someone in pain? If Tony had the power to throw him out of here, he would have been long gone.

"What?" he finally barked when he couldn't bear the weight of that gaze any longer. "If you're going to laugh at me, you can do it outside. I'm really not in mood to deal with you right now." And was that a headache starting at his temples? Great, just what he needed.

He started walking out of the workshop, fully intending to go to bed, but Loki caught him by the arm as he was passing. The god's grip was gentle, careful, but Tony still couldn't suppress and instinctive flinch.

"What?" he asked again, feeling tired to the bone.

"I could heal that for you, if you let me," Loki said quietly and all right, Tony hadn't been expecting that.

"You can do what?" he asked, just to clarify.

"I could heal that broken bone for you," Loki said, pulling back a little to be able to see his face. "If you want."

"Why the hell would you do that?" Tony asked incredulously. "What do a few weeks matter to you? You live forever. You can go away for a year and barely tell a difference."

"In this case the time matters," Loki said, obviously reluctant. "I will not go into details, but suffice to say, I would like to have that armour ready as soon as possible. Besides," he continued, "this would provide you with the perfect opportunity to work on my request. As far as the outside world is concerned, your arm is broken. That means you will not be bothered by inane requests from others and will be able to focus all your attention on my armour." _On me,_ were the implied words that he didn't say, but Tony heard them nonetheless.

He pulled his right arm out of Loki's grasp, taking a step back. He gave Loki a wary look, weighing his options.

"If you did this now," he asked slowly, "how long would it take for the bone to fully heal?"

"With magic?" Loki said. "A day or two at the most. If I start right away, you should be able to wield your tools in two days' time."

As he said that, he reached for Tony's injured arm, probably to assess the damage. Tony managed to avoid him before they could touch, pulling his broken arm protectively against his chest.

"Whoa there, cowboy! I haven't agreed to anything yet." He took a few more steps back, putting some distance between them. "I'm not sure this whole magic thing is a good idea."

Loki stopped, frowning in annoyance.

"And what other choice do you have? You can keep this splint on and sit on your couch for the next six weeks, or you can let me help you and gain back your health in few short days." He gave Tony a knowing look. "I have seen how this whole situation frustrates you, to be surrounded by your tools but unable to wield them."

Tony hesitated, feeling torn between his mistrust for Loki and his magic and the logic of his words. Yes, he was pissed off that he couldn't work the way he wanted to. And yes, he would love to be able to use both hands BUT he wasn't sure it was a good idea to accept the offer when it came from Loki. The god obviously saw his hesitance, because the corners of his mouth pulled down even further.

"Stark," he said again, still in that low voice, "I have sworn an oath not to cause you harm, remember? Just like you cannot tell anyone about me, I cannot harm you. Now, will you let me heal you?"

He must want the armor really badly, if he's this desperate, Tony thought as he watched the different expressions cross Loki's face. He let him stew for a moment longer before he spoke again.

"You know what? Let me think about it first."

Loki looked unhappy, but nodded.

"Very well. Take your time. The invitation still stands."

Tony gave him a nod. "Yeah, I know. You'll get your answer in the morning."

* * *

><p>Tony had been exhausted when he had finally hauled himself to bed, but once he lay down, his brain switched to 120% capacity, refusing to turn off. Also, the knowledge that Loki was somewhere in the house didn't help his peace of mind in the slightest. Who knew what his endgame was. Maybe he was just waiting for Tony to fall asleep so that he could murder him. Tony wouldn't put it past him.<p>

He spend a good two hours tossing and turning before he finally managed to doze off, only to be woken at half past five by throbbing pain in his forearm, because his meds had worn off and he had managed to accidentally roll onto his injured arm. Again. Tony lay in the darkness and tried to suppress the urge to scream in frustration. How did people do this for six weeks? He had barely had the cast for a week and already he was sick of it.

When the first rays of the morning sun appeared over the horizon, he finally gave up on trying to fall asleep and got up, pulling on a day-old shirt and some jeans. He had hoped for a few hours of peace with his mug of coffee, but when he walked into the kitchen, Loki was already sitting at the kitchen table, a half-empty plate of sausages in front of him. So much for Tony's hope that this whole thing had been just a bad dream.

Tony gave him a perfunctory nod and shuffled over to the coffee machine. If he had to deal with this madness, at least he wanted to be coherent for it. He sensed more than heard the presence behind him when he was pouring himself his second mug of coffee.

Loki stopped a few feet away, leaning on the counter with an expectant expression.

"Well?" he asked Tony. "What is your decision?"

Tony leisurely drank his coffee, seeing no point in hurrying this. He had already decided yesterday in the workshop, but he wasn't going to give Loki that satisfaction of knowing that. He put the empty mug on the kitchen counter and turned to face Loki fully.

"Let's do this."

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Thank you guys so much for all the support you're giving me for this story! I'm blown away by the amount of faves and comments this fic got so far and I'm really happy to hear that you enjoy it.

This story also managed to pass the 100 000 word mark yesterday and after a minor reevaluation, it looks like the fic will be even longer than I expected. So far it looks that there will be at least 25 chapters to this, so I hope you'll stick with me all the way through.

The next chapter will be posted on next Friday, December 26.


	6. Magic Hands

**Chapter 6 – Magic Hands**

Summary: _What do you do with a visitor that refuses to leave?_

Author's Note: This story now has a beta! The amazing **InsanitysxCreation** has agreed to try and put up with my particular brand of madness and I'm very grateful for all the help and feedback she keeps giving me. Thank you! :)

* * *

><p>"Let's do this."<p>

Loki looked at him for a moment before nodding.

"Very well. Come with me." He gestured with his head and set off to the living room. Tony followed him at a slower pace, still convinced that this was a terrible idea. He stopped in the middle of the living room, hesitating.

"There's one thing I want to know before we begin," he said. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing what?" Loki cocked his head.

"This," Tony gestured at the room around him, trying to encompass the bizarreness of the whole situation. "This whole "staying around, helping me" shtick. This isn't really your thing."

Loki crossed his arms. "Then, pray tell me - what is my "thing"?"

"I don't know, murdering people? Causing mayhem and destruction?"

"Did you honestly never wonder why it took me over a thousand years to get banished from Asgard?"

Tony shrugged. "No offense, but from what I've seen so far, your fellow Asgardians don't seem like a particularly clever bunch. If _Thor_ of all people is supposed to be the pinnacle of your civilization, I wouldn't be surprised to find that nobody found out about your schemes for a while." Loki raised an amused eyebrow, so Tony continued. "Don't forget that your people wanted him as their king. I honestly don't know what that says about your world."

That made Loki snort. "Indeed." He turned his back on Tony, walking over to the window to gaze at the ocean.

"It might surprise you to hear, but I wasn't always like this," he said quietly. "You met me during a very dark time in my life."

"Right, poor you," Tony said derisively. "All those people in New York totally murdered themselves. You can try telling their families that."

"I do not deny my involvement in their deaths." Loki spun back, pinning Tony with a gaze. "And I am fully responsible for my actions. I am merely saying that you should not base your judgment of my character solely on my actions in battle."

"So you're saying what? That you're normally all sunshine and kittens?"

Loki gave an amused snort. "Hardly. However, I am not the monster you portray me to be, either. Not when my mind is my own."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tony had a feeling that Loki was dropping him clues to a puzzle of some sort. The problem was that Tony had no idea _what_ the puzzle was.

"It means that I am very good at playing the role that was assigned to me," Loki said. Tony was getting tired of all this cryptic bullshit. "And no, I am not telling you anything more. Barton said you were a smart man. Prove it."

"Can we just get back to the healing?" Tony asked in resignation. It was far too early in the morning for any of this.

"You were the one who questioned my motives for helping you," Loki shot back. He walked over to the large living room sofa and sat down, waiting for Tony to do the same.

"I still don't trust you, you know," Tony felt necessary to point out. "I'm still half convinced that this is all part of some elaborate ploy to screw me over, and - with your track record - it probably is, but I don't care. I want this thing gone." He gave Loki a hard look. "So I've decided to trust you, just this once. If you tamper with my mind in any way, I'll sic the Hulk on you. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," Loki seemed more amused than impressed by Tony's little speech, which annoyed Tony even more. But hey, if a guy with a broken hand tried to threaten _him_, he probably wouldn't be terribly afraid, either. Fuck, he needed the cast gone ASAP.

"So, what do I do?" Tony asked.

"Sit down and give me your hand," Loki said. "It has been some time since I last healed anyone, so I need a few moments to concentrate."

"What? Nobody trusted you with their limbs?" Tony couldn't help but ask. He sat down nonetheless, keeping a good foot of space between them.

Loki shot him a look.

"No, they trusted me just fine, but they usually sought out someone more proficient." He reached out for Tony's hand, feeling out the shape of the bones beneath the cast with a thin tendril of magic. "Besides that, healing magic had never held much interest for me. My strength lies in destruction and illusions. Healing is quite the opposite of that."

"So are you saying you're lousy at it?" Tony said, trying not to feel alarmed. "No offense, but if you're crap at this, maybe this is not a good idea. I don't want to end up with three arms." He started to pull his hand back and stand up, but Loki tightened his hold, refusing to let him go.

"I would not have offered if I wasn't certain that I could accomplish this," he said. "I may not be able to repair torn innards or severed limbs, but a simple broken bone should be easy enough to mend."

He held Tony's gaze until the engineer sat back down, feeling even more dubious than before.

"This is such a bad idea. I can't believe I'm doing this."

"Your friends probably wouldn't approve."

Tony laughed a little.

"Yeah, they would have me locked up in a madhouse if they saw me now." He ran his free hand through his hair, blowing out a breath. "Jesus, this is insane, but I'm gonna do it anyway." He met Loki's eyes head on. "Go on, then, do your worst."

Rather than watch, he closed his eyes, trying to relax. He felt Loki's fingers circle the edges of his cast, probably searching for the best place to start. Warm golden light coming in through his eyelids made him open his eyes again and watch the proceedings with morbid fascination. Loki had a look of deep concentration on his face, holding Tony's broken arm between his palms, which were surrounded by a glowing ball of golden light. He stayed like that for a minute or so, concentrating hard, but as time passed, his frown deepened. Finally he looked up at Tony with a mix of annoyance and disbelief.

"It is not working," he announced. Tony blinked.

"Well, maybe you're just shit at this."

Loki's lips twisted in annoyance.

"No, the fault is not on my side. My magic is working as it should, but your body is not receiving it."

Tony's eyebrows flew up.

"I'm magic-proof?"

"So it would seem." Loki looked pretty irritated by it.

"So, what happens now? We give this up and you come back in a month?"

"No." Loki appeared deep in thought. "I believe the source of your magic resistance comes from the metal in your chest. If we removed it, I should be able to heal your arm." He started reaching for Tony's arc reactor. Tony was on his feet in a flash, slapping his hand with enough force to knock it away.

"No," he said resolutely. "No removing, no anything." He ignored Loki's incredulous stare and started pacing, trying to come up with a solution. This particular arc reactor might have magic-repelling properties, but he was almost certain that the one with palladium core didn't. He had never tested it, but it might be worth a try. His old core was still lying in a drawer somewhere in the workshop. I would be just a matter of finding it.

"I may have a way to make this work," he said slowly, meeting Loki's eyes. "Let me try something."

"What do you plan to do?" Loki asked at the same time as JARVIS spoke up.

"This is not a good idea, sir."

"It's worth a try," Tony said. "Besides, it would only be for a few minutes, JARVIS, it will be fine."

"What are you doing?" Loki started to rise from the sofa, intent on following him down to the workshop.

"Don't move," Tony told him. "Wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes."

He didn't wait for an answer, setting off to the workshop instead. It took him less than a minute to find his old arc reactor and a spare palladium plate for it. Taking out the new arc reactor and putting in the old one with only one hand took him a few tries, but he managed in the end. When the old core was in, he leaned on the desk for a moment and just breathed, getting used to the familiar tang of metal on his tongue.

It would be fine, he told himself. This was just for a few minutes, half an hour, tops. The last time it had taken him months to start showing signs of poisoning. It was going to be fine.

He came back to the living room ten minutes later to find Loki still on the sofa, waiting.

"The light in your chest is blue," he remarked when Tony climbed the stairs.

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "Different core. This one shouldn't be magic-proof."

"We'll see."

He sat down next to Loki again, feeling horribly naked without the newer arc reactor. There was something incredibly comforting about finding out that he was essentially magic-proof. Now that assurance was missing. Tony offered is arm again, trying to tamp down his apprehension.

Loki took his hand, sending out a small pulse of magic through his fingertip and giving a small nod of approval.

"Much better," he said. "Now hold still, this should only take a few minutes."

The light between his palms lit again, travelling from his skin into Tony's. Tony couldn't help but feel a little fascinated. If he could reproduce this process with a machine, he could advance medical technology by decades. He would have to look into this once he had use of both hands again.

Tony was tense at first, waiting for pain or dizziness or some sign that Loki was using this to put some kind of mind-spell on him, but when nothing happened besides a pleasant warm feeling in his arm, he slowly started to relax, thinking that maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. Five minutes later, he started to feel weird. There was a strange itching feeling in his skin and an unpleasant taste in his mouth that felt horribly familiar. Almost soon as he realized that, Loki opened his eyes at the same time and pulled his hands back, shooting Tony a look that was bordering on alarm.

"Something is wrong. The magic feels different than it should."

"Let me guess," Tony said in a carefully even tone. "I have a weird blue rash on my neck?"

"Yes." Loki frowned. "Now that you mention it, you do. It is on your other arm, too." He gave Tony a look. "What is it?"

Tony sighed. "We'll have to cut this session short. How long will it take before the bone heals?"

"I was almost finished healing it," Loki replied. "I do not know how fast you mortals heal, but I estimate another three, four days at the most."

"Awesome," Tony said, getting up. "Thanks for this, by the way." He set off towards his workshop, but had to stop after a few steps and close his eyes when his head started to spin. This was bad. This was really, really bad.

"Stark, what is going on?" Loki's voice was right beside him. The god didn't touch him, but remained within reach.

"Allergic reaction," Tony said, just to get rid of him. "Nothing to be concerned about. Go read a book or something."

"No," Loki said resolutely. "I am not some simpering servant you can get rid of when it suits you. Something is obviously wrong with you. I am coming with you."

"No," Tony said, drawing himself to his full height. "You don't always get to have what you want. Right now I need a moment alone and that means you're going to keep out of my workshop." There was no way he was going to take out his arc reactor in front of Loki.

He closed his eyes against another wave of dizziness and counted to ten, fighting the urge to throw up.

"Stark-" Loki started again.

"I am not going to die, all right?" Tony snapped, running out of his patience. "So would you just fuck off and leave me alone for once?"

Loki's gaze sharpened. "I never mentioned anything about dying."

"Look, I'll make sure your precious armor gets done, alright? Now get out of my way."

He spun around and marched off, trying not to stumble on the stairs when another wave of poison-induced nausea hit. _Jesus_, this was bad.

"JARVIS?" he asked once the workshop door clicked shut behind him. "Do I still have any of the antidote from SHIELD?"

"Three vials of it should be in the second drawer from the top in your father's box."

"Oh, thank fuck." He stumbled over to the box and pulled out a drawer, almost weeping with joy when he found the lithium compound, waiting and ready to be used. He thumbed off the safety cap and jammed the needle into his throat, sighing in relief when he felt it start working immediately.

With the worst symptoms gone, he crossed back to the desk where he had left his new arc reactor and thumbed the latch of the palladium one open, ripping it out as soon as he could. The new one slid into place with an elegant click, the familiar taste of coconut spreading on his tongue like a balm.

Fuck, that had been close. Closer than he was comfortable with.

He pulled open a drawer in his desk and dropped the palladium reactor into it, eager to get it out of his sight. Never again. Even if he had to wear the cast for half a year after the next fight, he would happily do it if this was the alternative.

Tony dug his bottle of whisky out of its hiding place in the desk, walked over to his favorite vintage car and climbed in, slumping onto the back seat. This needed a drink. Or three.

That was where Loki found him an hour later – sprawled over the backseat of a car, staring into space with a half-empty bottle in one hand. The god leaned against the side of the car, watching Tony with shrewd eyes.

"I tried calling from the doorway, but you didn't answer. Since you appear to still be alive, I'll take that as a positive sign."

"What part of "leave me alone" do you not understand?" Tony asked tiredly. "Do you take some class in Asgard on how to be a pain in the ass?"

"Do you solve all your problems by drinking yourself into a stupor?" Loki countered.

"It usually works," Tony told him. "And when it doesn't, at least I have a good time."

"It is not even noon."

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose not." Loki gave him another look, eyes lingering on his throat and the exposed right arm. "The blue lines are gone."

"As they should be."

"I have never seen an ailment like this before." Loki said. "What is wrong with you?"

Tony's answering laugh was tinged with desperation.

"A better question would be: What _isn't_ wrong with me. But if you mean right now, I've got a mild case of blood poisoning. It will take a few hours before it goes away."

He sat up and screwed the cap back onto the bottle. It looked like his moment of peace was over.

"I would not exactly call that mild," Loki said.

Tony gave him a wry smile. "It won't kill me, if that's what you're asking. You would have to try harder than that to get rid of me."

"That isn't very reassuring," Loki muttered. Louder, he said: "Your body should not react to my magic like that. What happened?"

"You magic works by speeding the body's natural healing process, right?" Tony asked, climbing out of the car. "Let's just say that it triggered something that it shouldn't have and leave it at that."

"Can it happen again?"

"No," Tony said. "Don't worry about it. I'll make sure it doesn't happen."

"You're not going to tell me more, are you?" Loki gave him a look.

"Nope." On mostly-steady legs, Tony walked over to his desk and deposited the bottle back in the drawer. He silently counted to three before turning back and giving Loki his patented publicity grin. "Hey, how about a lunch? There's a great Vietnamese place downtown that has takeout. We could order something. You haven't had Vietnamese food yet, have you?"

"You are attempting to derail me," Loki pointed out, but there was a hint of a smile playing around his mouth.

"Yep," Tony admitted. "Is it working?"

Loki pretended to think about it.

"Order us some of those pizzas and it just might."

"You've got a deal. Now, the important question – ham or cheese?"

* * *

><p>What do you do with a visitor that refuses to leave?<p>

That was the million dollar question Tony didn't have an answer to. No matter what he tried – logical arguments, bribes, threats of bodily harm – Loki kept hanging around. After Tony's latest threat to shoot him almost ended up with Tony smeared across the hood of his favorite Maserati, he finally gave up on trying to make him leave. Loki was apparently here to stay and there was nothing Tony could do about it, short of nuking the whole house from orbit.

The god came and went as he pleased, disappearing at random times over the next few days, only to pop up somewhere in the house a few hours later. No matter where he went, or how long he was gone, he always came back to the Malibu mansion in the end. Tony didn't ask where he was going, but the whole thing made him suspect that his theory about Loki having nowhere to stay was probably spot on.

That still didn't mean he had to happy with the whole situation. If he didn't count his relationship with Pepper, Tony had spent the majority of the past twenty five years living alone. Having another living being in his house was…jarring to say at least, especially since it was someone Tony had never wanted to live with in the first place. They guy was mostly quiet and kept to himself, but Tony still couldn't help the feeling of resentment that rose up every time he walked into a room and found Loki hanging around. The god's teleportation ability meant that he could basically appear anywhere at any time and Tony hated the loss of privacy that Loki's presence brought him.

His house had always been his sanctuary, the one place he didn't have to pretend to be someone else and now he didn't have even that. The god's presence made Tony feel on edge, constantly on alert, because the guy could be anywhere and he detested that fact that he had to police his behavior in case the guy was watching him. Tony couldn't count how many times he had forgotten about Loki's presence, only to get a minor heart attack when he stumbled out of the workshop in the middle of the night and found Loki's eyes watching him from the living room couch.

God, having a roommate sucked.

_Well_, he told himself one morning over his third mug of coffee_, if the guy is so hell-bent on hanging around, he might as well make himself useful._

And that was how Loki ended up standing in the middle of Tony's workshop, scanners beeping furiously around him as he conjured up fireball after fireball in his hand.

"Why do I have to do this again?" he asked Tony wearily.

"Because you promised to help me out with this," Tony answered absent-mindedly, not even bothering to look up from the scanner he was calibrating. "Also, you're eating all my food, so it's only fair that you do something to pay me back a bit. Can you shoot fire at that metal plate? I need to check its resistance to heat."

Loki grimaced but did as he was told, aiming a steady stream of bright orange fire at a thick steel plate. It blackened a little, but remained solid even under the barrage of ridiculously high heat.

"This looks pretty good," Tony said when he finally gestured him to stop. "We'll have to try ice next, but if it holds, we might have our first step towards the final thing." He threw Loki a bottle of water, which the god accepted gratefully, and went to check the screens with the results from the scanners, adjusting the settings for the next test. "I might even be able to get something from these readings. Of course, I'll have to wait for the Doombot parts to arrive before I can start testing anything, but I'm pretty sure I can make this work."

Two hours later, they were interrupted by JARVIS.

"Sir? There is a SHIELD-registered car approaching the house. My face-recognition scanners indicate that it's Agent Barton. You have approximately two minutes before he arrives here."

"All right, you need to go," Tony told Loki, scanning the workshop to make sure there wasn't anything suspicious lying about. "There is no way in hell you can be around when he gets here."

"Do not tell me that he still holds a grudge against me." Loki's flippant tone rubbed Tony the wrong way.

"Yeah, he does. Maybe because you turned his brain into _fucking mashed potatoes_? Remember?" He threw Loki a disgusted look. "Just get out of here before he arrives and puts an arrow through your eye socket."

"Oh, very well." Loki looked like it caused him a personal grievance. "I suppose a strategic retreat is the best option in this case."

"Yeah, it really is." Tony waited until Loki disappeared, then went back to his desk to close all the armor files. As the last design schematic disappeared, he suddenly felt really grateful that he hadn't taken off his cast yet. He had contemplated removing it, because Loki was convinced that the bone was healed already, but in the end decided to wait one more day. God knew what kind of bullshit he would have to come up with if Barton stopped by the house and the cast was gone, less than two weeks after the hand got broken.

That would be a lot of awkward questions Tony really didn't want to answer.

Barton's steps echoed on the stairs just as Tony pulled up another schematic on one of his tablets, starting a random song in the middle as a diversion tactic to draw attention away from the still-unnaturally-hot metal plate on the floor.

It worked like a charm.

Barton rapped at the glass door to his workshop three times, slipping in with a bulky box in his hands as soon as JARVIS unlocked the door for him. Once he was inside he opened his mouth to say something but promptly closed it again, making an incredulous face when he recognized the music.

"_Lady Gaga_?" Barton asked with a grimace. "Seriously?"

"Mute." Tony turned the music off and swiveled around in his chair to face him. "What's wrong with Lady Gaga?" he asked with a perfectly straight face.

"Nothing. It's just that I had you pegged for more of a Metallica, AC/DC-type of guy."

"No, you got that right," Tony told him. "But today's Tuesday, which means that Dummy gets to choose the music."

"Dummy as in your demented helper bot?" Barton shot the bot in question a look.

"Yeah," Tony confirmed, "thought he would probably object to you calling him "demented". That's not a very PC word, Agent Barton. You should have more sensitivity towards your fellow robotic citizens. It's not Dummy's fault that he's a little mentally challenged."

And now Barton was looking at Tony like _he_ was the one with a few screws loose. The look was very familiar, but he hadn't seen it on Barton's face before. This was getting funnier by the minute.

"No but really," Barton said, "you let your bots choose the music?" He looked like the idea personally offended him. Tony had to use all his willpower to keep a straight face.

"Look, pal, when someone lives with you for twenty-five years, they get some privileges. Now, he may not have the best taste, but I'm willing to put up with it for a few hours every week." He made a dramatic pause. "Be grateful you weren't here ten years ago when he went through his Britney Spears phase."

Barton's expression turned from weirded out into outright horror.

"Please don't make that face," Tony told him. "You're hurting Dummy's feelings."

Dummy put the perfect finish to the joke by hanging his head despondently and rolling away into the corner.

Barton opened and closed his mouth like a fish a few times, looking alternately at Tony and the bots.

"Are you fucking with me?" he asked finally.

Tony's poker face cracked just a bit, but he still managed to turn it into his best grin. God, messing with the guy was hilarious. Even better than pranking Captain America, and that was saying something.

"Maybe." He waited for a few seconds before pretending to take mercy on him. "Actually, Butterfingers is the one who likes Gaga. Dummy is a more old-fashioned guy. I still haven't been able to cure him of his ABBA obsession. You should see him when Dancing Queen comes on. It's madness."

Barton stared at him for a few more seconds before shaking his head in defeat.

"All right, I give up. You're obviously insane and we should be lucky that you haven't blown up New York yet."

"Yeah, I'll get to that after I finish conquering the moon and patenting my new rocket powered roller-skates," Tony said without missing a beat. "Now stop dissing my bot's taste in music and tell me what you have for me."

"Right." Hawkeye looked down at the box in his arms, as if he had just realized why he had come here in the first place. "We managed to rescue a few Doombot parts for you. I know you said you wanted to have a look at them, but you left New York before SHIELD approved all the requisition forms. Anyway, here you go."

He put the box on a desk for Tony to explore. And explore he did.

Most of the stuff in the box was a jumbled mess of metal plates and wires, but buried underneath all that was a piece that almost made the whole affair with the broken bone worth it.

Tony pulled the Doombot hand out of the box, lifting it closer to the light to get a better look at the intricate network of wires.

"Oh, you're beautiful," he murmured in appreciation, turning the metal appendage this way and that to examine it from all angles. From the corner of his eye, he caught Hawkeye's stare.

"What?"

"Only you, Stark, can look this happy holding something that almost killed you a week ago."

Tony shot him a grin. "What can I say? I like to live dangerously."

"As we are frequently reminded." Something in his tone made Tony straighten up.

"Did they send you here to check up on me?"

"No," Barton said, a bit too quickly. "Maybe?"

"Alright, which one of them put you up to this? Pepper? Fury?" No, Fury wouldn't bother unless Tony was actively dying. Which left only one option. "It was Steve, wasn't it?"

"He just wanted to make sure you were alright," Hawkeye said. "We all did."

"I'm fine," Tony said. "I'll be even better after I finally get rid of this thing." He gestured to the cast.

Barton drew himself up to sit on one of the workbenches, where he could have a better view of Tony's face.

"Why didn't you stay in New York with us? You didn't have to come back here."

Tony shrugged.

"All of my projects are here, my bots, everything. I left in a hurry when you called for us to assemble, so I had to come back and make sure everything's all right."

"I'm sure it could wait a few weeks until you healed. And it's not like you can do much with one hand in a sling, anyway."

"You'd be surprised." Tony gave him a smirk.

Barton made a face. "And now I don't want to know."

Tony's smirk widened. "Trust me, you really don't."

Absentmindedly, Barton picked up a few spare nuts and screws from the nearby workbench and started to juggle them. Tony bent over the robotic hand, using it as a pretext to avoid meeting Barton's gaze, because he knew full well where the conversation was headed. Barton's next question proved him right.

"No, but seriously. Why don't you live in New York? I mean, you spent months building the huge-ass tower, convinced us all to move in and then just stayed on the West Coast in the end. If I don't count Thor's visit, we haven't seen you in months."

"I doubt any of you miss my scintillating presence," Tony muttered, most of his attention focused on the numbers JARVIS was running for him.

"No, but really," Barton was persistent. "It's kinda weird to stay in your house when you're not there. Why did you build yourself a fancy skyscraper when you don't even use it?" He seemed frustrated by the concept.

Tony shrugged. "I have lots of things that I don't use. Kinda comes with the whole billionaire shtick. Besides, just because I don't live in the tower personally doesn't mean that I don't use it – it's the Stark Industries headquarters."

"That's not the point," Barton said.

"Then what _is_ the point?" Tony finally turned to face him. "You know, if you guys wanted to interrogate me, you really should have sent the Widow. You're crap at this, Barton."

"And you're a dick," Barton shot back, not the slightest bit fazed by Tony's attempt to rile him. "But I already knew that."

"Right," Tony said. "Look, let it go. I've never liked New York and that hasn't changed just because I suddenly have a tower there."

"How can you not like New York?" Barton asked, incredulous. "You grew up there."

"Yea," was all Tony said, turning back to the robotic hand. He had no desire to talk about his childhood in the huge empty mansion on 5th Avenue. Something in his face probably gave him away, because Barton's expression changed from curious to understanding.

"Right," he said, cutting into the awkward silence. "Anyway, you got the creepy hand of doom, so my part here is done." He slid down from the bench. "I'll be hanging around L.A. for a few days before I return back, so if you need anything, I can stop by anytime."

Tony got a sudden idea. Loki had mentioned that the spell would make sure that he couldn't betray him or mention his presence in any way. This was the perfect opportunity to find out just how the spell worked. He didn't plan to out Loki, not when he needed him for the anti-magic project, but he could still mess with him a little.

"There's this one thing," Tony said, before Barton could turn to leave. He chose his next words carefully. "I've noticed this stray dog hanging around the house lately." And here it was - a feeling like a stopgap had been put in his mind on everything Loki-related. The spell didn't allow him to speak Loki's name out loud or even to think about speaking it, but he could still talk about completely unrelated things. If he wanted, he could probably let Barton know about Loki even with the spell in effect. It was tempting, but he resisted.

"A stray dog?" Barton was wearing a small frown. "Why don't you shoo it away?"

"It's very persistent." Tony smothered a grin. Oh yes, this was fun, especially since Loki was probably in the room, spying on him. "It's been running around for a few days, digging in my trash cans."

"Do you want me to shoot it?" Barton offered.

"Nah," Tony said. "Better not. The PETA guys could find out about it and my house would get picketed by half-naked animal activists." He paused. "Actually, the half-naked part wouldn't be so bad. But still, it's too much hassle."

"I didn't see any dogs around when I arrived here."

"It was probably hiding. Anyway, don't worry about it. The dog will probably get bored and leave on its own soon enough."

"Alright." Barton still looked a little dubious. "You know where to find me if you need anything."

"Yeah." Tony gave him a smile. "Thanks for delivering this." He picked up the robotic hand and waved it, which made Barton grin.

"I hope you and Mr Robohand will be very happy together."

"We will," Tony assured him.

"Yea, I bet," Barton muttered.

Tony used the opportunity to turn on the music again, enjoying Barton's grimace when Gaga started enthusiastically belting out something about a bad romance. The agent just shook his head in disbelief and walked out, taking the stairs two at the time. Tony waited until JARVIS informed him that the agent was truly gone, then switched the music off.

Well, that hadn't been so bad. Despite his frequent claims of the opposite, Tony liked Barton. The man had a straightforward, no bullshit manner, a wicked sense of humor and a general aura of unflappability which made him pleasant to be around. But most of all, Tony liked that Barton knew when to shut up. Unlike the Captain, who had an unfortunate tendency to pursue unpleasant topics with the tenacity of a bloodhound, Barton knew when to drop an uncomfortable subject. He didn't push or wheedle, simply stepped back and accepted defeat if he didn't get the answer he wanted.

For a second, Tony even found himself contemplating Barton's words about moving to New York, before he discarded the idea. Yeah, he could probably live with the Avengers, but he wasn't sure that the Avengers would be able to live with him. Plus the whole thing with Pepper made it all kinda awkward. There was probably something to be said about the fact that _he_ was the one on the team, yet Pepper was the one who actually talked to them on a regular basis. Besides, Steve might be worried about him now, but he would probably change his tune pretty fast if he had to actually share his living space with Tony. Tony had no desire to spend the rest of his days by being silently compared to Howard and found wanting. He'd had enough of that already.

He started running a few tests on the doom hand, but before he could delve deeper into the data, the air behind him shimmered and Loki reappeared. Tony kept his back to him, watching him approach in the reflection thrown by one of the darkened monitors. Hoo boy, he looked pissed.

"You were here the whole time, weren't you?" Tony asked, not feeling the slightest bit surprised by that. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough." Loki's voice could have cut glass. The god slowly prowled closer, moving behind Tony to hiss in his ear: "You were thinking of betraying me, weren't you?" His voice made the hairs on the back of Tony's neck stand, but if wasn't out of fear. He should probably get his head examined, because he found the whole situation rather thrilling.

Rather than play along with the threats, Tony smirked.

"Well, I won't deny that the thought crossed my mind, but no, I was mostly curious about what the spell would do." He turned around to face Loki, enjoying the annoyed look on the god's face. "It's one thing to have you tell me about how the spell works and another to try it out for myself. I always love figuring out how things work. Besides, you're kinda known for being a good liar. I was not about to take your word on it, no offence."

"You're playing with fire here, Stark," Loki warned him.

"You say to the guy who loves making things explode," Tony gave him a crooked grin. "Seriously, the fire metaphor is not working too well in this case. You should probably come up with some new threats."

"I probably should," Loki said, moving a little closer. "You are getting far too insolent."

"Or maybe I'm just getting really good at pushing your buttons," Tony shot back, meeting Loki's burning gaze head on.

Their eyes locked and held and Tony suddenly realized that the room was getting kind of hot. He should probably stop this madness, because flirting with a pissed off god of chaos was only inviting trouble, but he hadn't felt this thrilled exchanging banter with someone for years. His arguments with Pepper had been more exhausting than exciting, but riling up Loki was like touching a live wire – dangerous, thrilling and so much fun.

Tony held his gaze for a few more seconds, enjoying the promise of danger lurking in Loki's eyes, before he took a step back and reached for the now abandoned doom hand lying on the workbench. He waved it between them, effectively breaking the mood.

"How do you like my new friend, Mr Creepyhand?"

"I hope it proves useful, considering all the fuss you made about obtaining it."

"Fuss?" Tony repeated. "That wasn't fuss. Fuss would be if I called Pepper at two in the morning and demanded that she buy me the company that makes Swedish meatballs. Which I have," he had to admit. "Several times when I was drunk. But never mind, this is necessary. This hand is crucial to obtaining an understanding of how the thing works."

He circled the workbench and put the hand down, staring the scanners again.

"If I figure out how the robots are made and how he controls them, I can come up with a way to turn it against him. I can sabotage them or destroy them." He got a glorious idea that made him pause for a second. "Or maybe, if I'm very, very lucky, I can even turn them against him. Take control. Make him eat his words." Oh, this was getting better and better. If he could pull that off, the result would be hilarious.

"You can do that?" Loki asked with interest.

"I'm Tony Stark, there is very little I can't do."

"So I am beginning to see," Loki murmured. Tony didn't pay him much attention, bending over the hand.

"Besides, nobody messes with my stuff," he continued. "The guy fucked up my armor plates. It will take me a week to repair all the damage he did to my suit. Turnabout's only fair."

"I thought you heroes were all about truth, justice and honour," Loki said with a smirk.

"Ah no," Tony corrected, "that would be the Cap. He's the honorable boy scout here. I'm not above petty revenge." He raised the hand higher to the light to study the wiring. "If I see this guy again, I'm going to kick his ass."

"That should make for an entertaining spectacle. It's a pity I will not see it."

"No, you totally can," Tony said. "It will probably be all over the news. Hey, I haven't shown you how the TV works yet, have I?"

Loki shook his head. "No, I do not believe so. Is that another one of your devices?"

Tony shot him a grin. If introducing Loki to the wonders of cable TV went half as well as it had with Thor, who had worn a puzzled face for days after being introduced to the phenomenon that was reality TV, Tony was in for weeks of hilarity. It might even make up for having to put up with the guy.

"You have _no_ idea."

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I almost forgot to update today, because Dragon Age: Inquisition has eaten my brain. I have zero regrets, though, because the game is fantastic. Once I managed to tear myself out of its grasp, I will go back to writing, I promise :)

I'll be taking some liberties with the Marvel cannon, especially where magic is concerned (the magic-proof arc reactor), so I hope nobody minds too much. If it's any consolation, it all serves the plot. I'm not just making up stuff on a whim, (for example - the arc reactor and its properties will become important later on).

I'm really glad to hear that you guys are enjoying my story! Thank you for all the comments and kudos you have left on the previous chapters, it's nice to hear that my work is appreciated :)

The next chapter will be up on next Friday, January 2nd.


	7. A Cure for Boredom

**Chapter 7 – A Cure for Boredom**

Summary: In which Loki is bored, Tony is bad at archery and Dummy doesn't know what "edible" means.

* * *

><p>Another week passed and Tony was still no closer to cracking the mystery of Doom's magic robot hand than he'd been when Barton had first brought it. Since he couldn't work on any of Stark Industries patents or SHIELD commissions (at least not officially), he was able to devote more time to Loki's request. They spent many hours discussing designs and testing various metals with the help of Loki's magic.<p>

The armor design was slowly starting to take shape, looking like a cross between Loki's own Asgardian armor and something inspired by Earthly fantasy movies. Tony didn't ask where Loki got the ideas – he had a sneaking suspicion that Loki had learned to use the internet right along with the TV and was probably using it to either troll people or binge-watch the Game of Thrones. Or both. Tony had never managed to catch him at it, but he had noticed that Loki was a lot more familiar with tech than an alien space Viking had any right to be.

Unlike most visitors to Tony's workshop, who usually looked uncomfortable when they entered, refused to touch anything and tried to get out as soon as possible, Loki had managed to make himself right at home between the glass cases with Iron Man suits and ubiquitous piles of prototypes. At first it had annoyed Tony like hell– the brazen way he would pop out of thin air and lean against a workbench like he owned the place, the way he would pick up random stuff Tony was working on to take a closer look without asking permission – but eventually the engineer learned to tolerate it.

One learned to tolerate a lot of things when it came to Loki – property damage caused by stray spells, probing questions about things he didn't wish to talk about and frequent interruptions when he was trying to work. Oh boy, so many interruptions.

The god possessed an incredible amount of natural curiosity that drove him to explore the world around him. Unfortunately for Tony, that world now also included his workshop. Loki never broke anything, handling Tony's tools and machines with care, but Tony still instinctively tensed up any time the god went near his bots. The bots, naïve creatures that they were, seemed to adore the guy for some reason. Tony had no idea what Loki had told them or done to them, but they obediently fulfilled each of the god's request.

"Have you put a spell on my bots or something?" he finally asked one day. Loki looked up from his book with a frown. He was perched comfortably on a spare office chair, reading through a thick book of some sort.

"Of course not. Why would I bespell your machines?"

"I don't know," Tony said. "You tell me why they suddenly obey you. It's a little creepy, to be honest, to see them roll about, fulfilling your every whim."

"They are servants, are they not?" Loki made an elegant move with his hand, taking the glass of orange juice You was holding out for him. "You created them to serve you. I am merely using them for their intended purpose."

Tony didn't bother to explain that the bots had been created less for helping out and more for keeping him company. That was far too private. Outwardly he didn't move a muscle.

"Well, I suppose that as long as I don't need them, you can boss them around, but if I catch you encouraging them to riot against me, I'll test my new repulsors on your face." He pointed a screwdriver at Loki. "Capiche?"

The only answer he got was an amused smile. He should really work on his threats.

Dummy chose that moment to roll up to the engineer, holding a plate with a sloppy-looking sandwich. The bot held out his claw, offering his concoction proudly, which put Tony instantly on alert, because Dummy's attempts at making him food never ended well. The bot could wield a fire-extinguisher reasonably well, but he usually lacked the necessary coordination for more precise work. Count to that the fact that Dummy had a very loose definition of "food" and he had a disaster in waiting. Tony took the plate from him warily, lifting the top layer of the bread.

"Is this…_grease_, Dummy?" he asked the bot. "Did you just bring me a grease sandwich? Really? You made me a sandwich with grease. Wonderful. How many times do I have to explain about the difference between Nutella and grease before you get it?"

Butterfingers came to him next, carrying a smoothie. "And what's that?" Tony pointed at the glass in Butterfingers' claw.

"It appears to be a vegetable smoothie, sir. No foreign substances detected," JARVIS informed him.

"See?" Tony told Dummy. "He can make food that's actually edible. Why can't you do that? You're ten years older than him."

Dummy's claw lowered, looking sad.

"Oh, come on. Don't try that on me. You know very well that you botched this up." Dummy continued looking sad. Tony sighed. "All right, you did a pretty good job, if I don't count the whole "not being edible thing"." Dummy perked up. Tony tried to pretend he wasn't smiling. "Great job, Butterfingers." The bots chirped at him and rolled away. Tony held up the snacks in his hands in bemusement.

"Can you explain why my bots are suddenly trying to feed me?" Tony asked Loki. The god shrugged in false nonchalance.

"I have noticed that you forget to eat when you work for too long."

Tony didn't buy his bullshit for a second.

"I don't like interruptions when I work. Besides, my eating habits are none of your business."

"I merely reminded your servants that they should pay more attention to your nutrition, since you clearly seem to be incapable of feeding yourself."

"I eat!" Tony protested. "Sometimes. When I remember. It's worked out for me pretty well so far."

Loki just gave him an unimpressed look that irritated Tony to no end. To appease Butterfingers, who was still trying (and failing) to watch him subtly, Tony took a few sips of the smoothie before he put in on his desk and picked up Hawk's new bow instead. The weapon was almost finished, only needed to be tested. Tony cleared out a path across the workshop, hanging a metal target on the furthest wall opposite the suit displays. Loki watched the proceedings with interest.

"What are you doing?"

"Testing Hawkeye's new bow," Tony answered, keeping his eyes on the target. He raised the bow to the right height, drew the bowstring as far as he could and let the arrow fly. The sensors in the arrowhead engaged at once, hitting the target with unerring accuracy. Tony pulled up a screen and opened the file on the bow, noting down the reactions of the material.

"I had no idea you had an interest in archery," Loki said, standing up from his chair.

"I don't." Tony was trying to notch the next arrow on the bowstring. He succeeded on the third try. "I just wanted to test the bow for Barton before I give it to him. Since he's not around and I have a very similar build, I'm an ideal candidate for that."

"Do you even know how to use that bow?" Loki asked and was that a hint of mockery in his voice? Tony wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised.

"Of course I know how to use it. I made it. Besides, I don't have to be an archer to test the flexibility of the material," Tony countered. Loki walked over to him and held out his hand.

"Give me the bow."

Tony stepped back.

"No way. You'll just break it with your freakish strength. This shit isn't built for someone of your capacity. That's why I need to be the one testing it."

"In that case you should at least learn how to handle it properly." Loki took a few steps closer until he was standing behind Tony, who tensed immediately. Having a former enemy standing behind your back was never a good feeling. "No, don't tense up," Loki said, putting his hands on Tony's shoulders. "You will harm your aim."

"Well, considering that I don't have much of an aim in the first place, that wouldn't be such a tragedy," Tony muttered. "Can you stop standing behind me? It's creepy."

"Does my presence make you uncomfortable?" The smirk was clear in Loki's voice. "Here, let me help you." And he let go of Tony's shoulders, only to reach down and take hold of Tony's elbows. "You need to keep your left arm in this position while you draw the bowstring back with your other. Your eyes should be on the target." A gust of cold breath washed over the back of Tony's neck, making him shiver as Loki released his hands. "Now count to three and then release the arrow."

Easier said than done. Loki was standing less than a foot behind him, breathing down his neck. Tony was sure he didn't need to stand this close to observe the shot. To get this over with, he blew out a breath and released the arrow. Before it could hit, he pushed the button in the bow and the arrow exploded, penetrating the target in several places.

"Again," Loki ordered and Tony suppressed a sigh. It seemed that Barton's bow had become the main attraction of the afternoon. He notched another arrow, but before he could draw the bow, he was startled by the hands that gripped his hips.

"What are you doing?" he asked warily, feeling goosebumps burst out all over his arms.

"Improving your posture," Loki murmured, moving Tony's feet until he was standing correctly. And was that Tony's imagination, or did those hands linger on his waist a bit longer than necessary? "Your stance is abominable."

Tony wanted to hate the situation, he really did, but instead of the touch feeling alien and unwelcome, it was turning him on just a little bit. He knew Loki was only doing it to provoke him, pushing his buttons to see how he would react, but he couldn't deny there was something thrilling about being in such close proximity to the demigod.

He released another arrow and made a note in the file on its speed and trajectory.

"How come you know so much about archery?" he asked, just to fill the silence.

"I was brought up to be a warrior," Loki said. "The bow may not be my preferred weapon of choice, but I was expected to be proficient in it nonetheless."

"Right. You know, I really don't need to know how to shoot this," he said after Loki continued hovering around even after the fifth arrow. "That's why I have the suit and the auto-targeting system. It calculates all the targets for me. I don't need to do a thing. This is so old school."

Loki didn't say anything to that, simply leaned on the wall a few feet away and observed the tests.

It took another twenty minutes before Tony was finally satisfied with the readings from the bow. He folded it with a snap and put it in a protective case for Hawkeye, glad to finally get away from Loki's smothering orbit.

This weird sexual tension had been hanging between them ever since he had come back from fighting Doctor Doom in New York. Loki rarely hit on him outright, but it was always there, always present in the undertone of their conversations. Looks that lingered a little longer than they should, green eyes watching Tony over the edge of a book when he worked on his designs. While before those had been only subtle hints that Tony could pretend to ignore, now it had moved from subtext into the open.

And well…Tony would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy the attention just a bit. It felt a little weird to be made into an object of interest by a former (?) enemy, but hey, he was Tony Stark. He lived for weird shit like this. And he would lie even more if he said that he wasn't interested right back.

Sure, it had all started as a fun experiment to see how far he could push Loki's buttons before the god snapped and turned him into a fireworks display, but the more time they spent together, the more Tony found that he genuinely enjoyed it. There was something exciting about being able to talk to someone who could hold their own in a conversation, who could both keep up with Tony's quicksilver mind and didn't fall for the money or the whole Iron Man celebrity persona. The fact that the god was quite easy on the eyes certainly didn't hurt, either.

However, for now Tony was still determined to keep his distance. According to Tony's calculations, the armor would take at least another three months to make, and that was if he managed to find the anti-magic trick soon. If he didn't, who knew how long was Loki going to hang around. It was one thing to flirt a bit and another to get tangled with a half-mad demigod. Having a one night stand with the guy was absolutely out of the question in this situation and Tony's latent commitment-phobia didn't let him to even think about words like "relationship".

Considering just who it was Tony was working for, he was going to be happy if he got out of this whole deal alive. Tempting or not, there was no reason to complicate it any further…

…at least that was what he had been telling himself. The reality was that he was slowly running out of arguments against this while Loki moved closer, tightening the metaphorical noose around him.

…

All right, who was he kidding? It was only a matter of time before they ended up in bed. There was simply too much energy, too much chemistry between them for them to keep their arrangement strictly professional. The only question was: What was going to happen once they slept together? Right now, Tony really didn't wish to know.

"Why are you doing all this?" Tony couldn't help but ask as he went through the results from the bow tests. "Surely there must be better things for you to do than hang around my workshop and laugh at my nonexistent archery skills."

"As much as I hate to admit it, there are not," Loki said. "Being dead is more limiting than I expected. I cannot use large amounts of magic, because it might draw unwanted attention. Travel between realms is out of question for me right now, so I am effectively bound to this miserable rock for the duration of our contract."

"Hey, you were the one who wanted the whole contract thing in the first place," Tony reminded him. "It's not my problem that you're suddenly bored. When I signed up to make you the armor, "babysitting a bored demigod" wasn't part of my contract terms."

"What am I supposed to do, then, to entertain myself?" Loki asked petulantly. Tony thought he sounded about five years old. "You forbid me from causing destruction."

"Yeah, poor you." Tony rolled his eyes. "Not being able to slaughter people must be such a bummer." Loki threw him a dirty look that Tony ignored. "What did you do for fun on Asgard? I'm sure it can't be _that_ different from what we do here."

"Hunting and feasting, mostly," Loki answered. "I also spent a lot of my time practicing with weapons, learning new spells and reading."

"Did you like it?"

"Most of it." He didn't elaborate further. A shadow seemed to fall over his face at the memory of his home world, so Tony let it slide. Instead he tried to come up with some ideas.

"Look, there are plenty of ways to entertain yourself here on Earth. You can teleport, for fuck's sake. You can go anywhere you wish. Why don't you explore a bit? Try something new? If you want to hunt, you can go to Canada or Russia. They've got tons of bears and moose and shit. If you want to eat, L.A. is full of restaurants with food from all around the world. Hell, you can travel all over the world. There's more to Earth than New York and L.A., you know." He gave the god a side eye. "And, if you're still bored after all that, you can always go visit Thor in London. I'm sure he would be thrilled to see you."

That got him the predictable reaction.

"No," Loki said resolutely. "I refuse to ever see him again."

"All right," Tony relented. "But think about what I said. You don't have to stick around here all the time. There's so much to do outside. So many places to see, people to meet. You could have fun."

Loki raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "You mean like _you_ have fun? So far I have only seen you work for days on end and drink yourself into oblivion. That doesn't sound like entertainment to me."

"I'll have you know, I love my work," Tony informed him. "Besides, you haven't stayed here for very long. I have plenty of fun when you're not around." He gave an exaggerated leer. "Just ask those models at the party two weeks ago."

"Yes, I have heard of your reputation," Loki said, sounding unimpressed. "You had the gall to lecture me about my plans for domination, yet you yourself walk among your fellow mortals like a king, using them to fulfill your every whim."

"Whoa!" Tony whirled around, pinning the guy with a glare. "You make me sound like some kind of a rapist or despot, which is really not cool. I don't force anyone to do anything. The people I sleep with always come to me first. I've never had to use money or force to get someone in my bed. That would be just gross." He tried to shake off the brief surge of anger, opting for a smirk instead. "If they seek me out, it's only because I'm just that good."

"Are you, really?" Loki's derisive expression got replaced by one of amused interest. Tony decided to steer the conversation back into safer waters before things got out of hand.

"Look, the people here don't wish to be ruled," he explained. "We've had enough of that shit over the past few thousand years. You can't just come somewhere and declare sovereignty over a random piece of land, be it a country or the whole world. People hate that sort of thing." He paused for a moment, trying to get back to his original point. "What I'm saying is, they don't wish to be ruled, but I suppose they can be…impressed. Some of them really easily. You should try it. Go out, have fun, charm someone into spending time with you. You'd never have to see them again if you didn't want to."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you do? Charm them one day and run away the other? Leave them before they can start asking questions?"

Tony laughed. "Yeah, pretty much. It's easier that way."

"Easier than what?" Loki's gaze was piercing.

Tony sighed. That question was getting uncomfortably close for comfort. He hesitated briefly before answering: "Having them run away from me. They always do, eventually." His lips twisted into a self-deprecating grin. "To be honest, I don't blame them, much. I'm not an easy guy to get along with."

"No you are not," Loki said bluntly. And alright, even coming from the mouth of a guy who had once tried to kill him, that still stung a bit. "You have a talent for driving people away."

"It doesn't seem to work on you," Tony shot back, feeling a little hurt by the assessment.

"You haven't been trying very hard," Loki said. "But that is beside the point. You are a man of extraordinary talents. It is only reasonable that you should be allowed some leeway."

It shouldn't have worked, but it did. Tony could feel his irritation evaporate.

"If you're only saying that to get me to work faster, it's not going to work," he warned Loki, only half-seriously.

"No harm in trying," Loki shot him a grin that made his heart beat just a little faster. What were they talking about again? Oh, right, getting Loki out of the house.

"Look," he said, "you really don't have to be here all the time. In fact, you probably shouldn't. Just because SHIELD still doesn't know you're here doesn't mean that they won't find out eventually. What if one of the Avengers came for a visit unannounced and we didn't notice him until it was too late? Or if someone gets suspicious and starts watching my house? We would both be in deep shit."

"I have my ways of staying undetected," Loki informed him, looking very satisfied with himself.

"Yeah, I bet you do," Tony muttered.

"So, your fellow heroes and spies still have no idea that I am alive?"

"As far as I'm aware, no."

"And how would you know that? You rarely speak with them." Loki's gaze was shrewd.

Tony took a few seconds to contemplate whether he was going to reveal this particular detail. In the end the need to show off his cleverness won.

"I may have been monitoring SHIELD's secret network ever since the whole deal with you."

Loki's eyebrows flew up.

"Have you. How scandalous." He seemed genuinely impressed. Tony told himself not to feel pleased by that. "What would your righteous friends think if they knew you were spying on them? Oh, this is delicious." Loki's grin was back full force, jubilant and full of teeth. "You fight by their side and yet you do not trust them."

"Of course I don't trust them," Tony said. "SHIELD is a secret intelligence agency. I would be crazy to take anything they say at face value after the whole clusterfuck with the Tesseract-powered weapons. This way I know what they are doing. I don't have complete access because I wanted to stay undetected this time, but what little I have is more than enough to keep me informed about anything important." That reminded him. "Hey, did you know that Phil, the guy you killed on the Helicarrier, isn't dead?"

"He is not?" Loki asked. "You seemed rather upset by his death."

"Yeah, I was, but mostly because Fury used his death to manipulate us Avengers into working together. No, the fun fact is that he's alive, but nobody knows about it. Not Steve, not Barton, nobody. I wasn't supposed to know either, but oh well." He paused in adjusting the metal compositions on the screen. "Hm, I wonder if I should mention that little tidbit in front of Steve the next time Fury pisses me off. That should be fun."

"Maybe you should," Loki said, reminding Tony of the whispering snake from the Bible parable about the paradise. "The director's reaction to your little stunt will probably make it all worthwhile."

"You really like to watch the world burn, don't you," Tony said, but there wasn't anything biting about it. There was something admirable about the guy's unashamed passion for causing chaos.

He got a shark-like grin in answer.

"I love it."

* * *

><p>The next day brought an unexpected complication. Tony should have anticipated it, really, but he had gotten really good at denial about all things Pepper-related since she had broken up with him. God, had it really been almost a year now? Anyway, he should have seen it coming from a mile away, but it was still an unpleasant surprise when the phone rang while he and Loki were testing the durability of the newest batch of steel alloys.<p>

"Sir," JARVIS informed him, "Miss Potts is on the line."

"Tell her I'm busy," Tony said, not looking up from the readings from the scanners.

"I have already tried that, sir," JARVIS said, sounding almost apologetic. "She is using her override."

"Shit." He turned to Loki. "Alright, we're having a break. Can you zap yourself to the library or something? This is kinda personal."

"No, I don't think I will," Loki gave him the "I-love-being-a-pain-in-the-ass" grin. "This should be entertaining."

"I'll come up with some way to make you pay for this later," Tony said. "If you're so determined to stay, then stay, but for the love of all that is holy, shut up."

Loki just shot him an annoying smirk and settled himself on workbench to watch the show. Tony gestured for JARVIS to connect the call.

"Hi, Pep," he said cheerfully. He could almost feel the ice coming from the other side of the line.

"Can you tell me what's keeping you so busy that you can't even pick up a phone?" Pepper said. "I know for a fact that your arm is still broken, so I'd like to know what it is you're working on that's so important."

Tony looked around on all the armor designs and magic scanners littering his workshop.

"Oh, you know, I'm making a…hoverboard," he blurted the first thing that came to his mind.

"A hoverboard." Pepper's disbelief was almost palpable. "Are you serious?"

"Yup," Tony said. "It's like a skateboard, but much cooler. It can hover and everything."

"A hoverboard," Pepper repeated flatly. "And we need this why?"

"Because it's awesome?" He heard a smothered chuckle from the other side of the workshop and shot the demigod a glare. "Because we were meant to have them like five years ago, if the pop culture is to be believed, and their continued lack of existence is really an affront to the American people?"

There was a telling silence from the other side of the line.

"I can't even tell when you're just making up bullshit anymore," Pepper said finally. She sounded tired. "And no, the world doesn't need a hoverboard, but you're going to invent it anyway, so there's no point in arguing about it. But this is not why I am calling."

"Why are you calling, then?" Tony asked, feeling a horrible sense of foreboding.

"Steve wants to know what you're doing on Christmas. The Avengers will all be celebrating at the Tower. They want you to come."

And here it was. Tony should have known he wouldn't be able to escape it. He threw Loki a pleading look.

_Get out_, he mouthed. When the god didn't move, Tony added a reluctant _please_.

That seemed to do the trick. Loki hesitated for a few more seconds before finally disappearing in a shower of sparks. Tony sagged against the workbench, running a hand over his face.

"I can't," he told Pepper, taking care to keep his voice casual. "I have plans."

"Plans," Pepper repeated. "On Christmas Eve. What is so important that you can't even come see your friends?"

"I'm throwing a party," Tony made up on the spot. Yup, party was a great idea, now that he thought about it. It would give him the perfect excuse, because it was something that he had totally done before. Several times in fact. "Rhodey's coming," he added. Even if the man didn't know about it yet.

"Rhodey already promised Steve he would come have dinner with us," Pepper informed him.

Shit. That complicated things a bit.

"He can do both," Tony said breezily. "With the suit it's what? Forty-minute flight across the states? If he's jetlagged, he can crash here afterwards."

There was a sigh on the other side of the line.

"Why are doing this, Tony?"

Tony didn't have to ask her to clarify. They might have parted of fairly good terms (excellent terms in fact, compared to the majority of Tony's past breakups), but the approaching winter holidays had brought it all back.

Christmas had been one of the last times he and Pepper had spent together as a couple. Everything had fallen apart a few weeks after that, but Christmas was a good memory. Tony could still remember it all - Clint, hanging from the ceiling over the big Christmas tree in the Avenger common room, trying to put the star on the top and laughing at something Bruce had said. Steve and Natasha, sitting together on the couch, the spy explaining something that made Steve simultaneously blush and chuckle. And Pepper, beautiful as always, wearing the red dress Tony had bought for her and smiling the smile that never failed to make Tony's heart skip a beat.

There was no way in hell he could go to New York and spend the evening with them all this year. Next year, maybe. Maybe.

Instead of answering her question, he deflected with a question of his own.

"Is Steve stealing my friends now?" To his credit, it came out only half serious.

"They're your friends, too," Pepper said.

"Yeah." Something in his tone must have alerted her, though, because her voice sharpened.

"You know, it's not their fault that you refuse to spend time with them."

"I spend time with them," Tony protested. "We fight space monsters and steampunk wizards together."

"Tony," Pepper's voice had that familiar "you're-acting-like-an-idiot" tone.

"Hey, I've been to New York twice within a month in the past few weeks," Tony protested. "That has to count for something."

"Steve told me that after you broke your hand, you couldn't wait to get out of there. He thinks he must have done something to offend you."

"He didn't- Jesus, he didn't _offend_ me," Tony said. "He didn't do anything. I just had unfinished stuff to get to. I left in a hurry when they called me and I didn't want the house to blow up while I was away." And that was the truth. Sort of.

Pepper sighed.

"You know what? I refuse to be the middleman in this. You're both adults, solve it yourself. God knows I have enough to do even without cleaning up your messes." There was a sound of voices speaking on the other side of the line. "I need to go," Pepper said. "The invitation stands. If you decide to come to New York, everyone will be happy to see you. Thor is coming, too, by the way."

"Right."

"Goodbye, Tony."

"Bye, Pep."

After the call disconnected, Tony sat down in his favorite office chair. God, this was a mess. Still, his determination didn't waver for a second. There was no way in hell he was going to New York for Christmas. Having dinner with Pepper and the Avengers would feel like a total farce. He refused to spend the evening smiling at Pepper's new guy, who was kind and polite and probably rescued kittens in his free time. Steve got on with him wonderfully, which made Tony feel like a dick for hating him. Really, the guy wasn't so bad – an actor turned human rights activist, he was everything Tony was not, reminding Tony with his mere existence of all the reasons he and Pepper had broken up.

Nope, there was no way he was going to spend an evening with this guy. And, even if Pepper wasn't with anyone, there was still the whole problem with the broken hand. Even if he wore a fake cast the whole time, Natasha would see through his lie in less than a minute. Tony had no desire to explain how he had miraculously managed to heal a broken bone in less than three weeks.

Which meant that he need to put the party together ASAP, because otherwise his excuse would be discovered for the lie it was.

Yeah, this should be fun.

He stayed in the workshop for another five minutes, enjoying the temporary peace and quiet, before he made his way upstairs. Loki was sitting on the living room sofa, reading what looked like the Lord of the Rings. He looked up immediately when Tony entered, bookmarking the page.

"Are you finished with your mysterious phone call?"

"Yeah," Tony said. "Looks like I have a solution to your little boredom problem."

"Oh?" Loki raised an eyebrow. "This should be good."

Tony gave him a grin. "We're having a Christmas party."

"…What is 'Christmas'?"

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p>AN: I'll be going on a short writing hiatus for this story soon, because I'm having my Master's State Exams in less than three weeks and need enough time to study. You don't have to worry about regular posts though, because I have 15 chapter fully finished and am planning to pick this right up once the exams are done. I'll still make sure that everything gets posted on a regular schedule even when I'm not actively writing, so there won't be any disruptions in the posts for you readers. Once I finish the story, I might speed up the posting a little, but for now I'm making sure I have enough backlog to give myself some breathing room.

Thank you all so much for your continuing support! All the feedback you give me is simply amazing and I cherish every review and story favorite I get.

The next chapter will be posted on next Friday, January 9.


	8. The Christmas Party

**Chapter 8 – The Christmas Party**

Summary: In which Tony discovers that Loki in leather is bad for his self-control.

* * *

><p>The next few days passed by in a flurry of plans. There were guest lists to put together, catering to order and decorators to hire. Tony might have handed over most of these responsibilities to his PA, but he still had the final say about all the final decisions. Working on Loki's commission had also become a lot harder, because he now had to wear the cast around the house, in case someone stopped by. To add to that, he had apparently managed to forget about some important conference that he had signed up for a few months ago. He only found out about that when JARVIS reminded him the day before. Seriously, why was he paying a PA when they never told him anything important?<p>

"Sir?" JARVIS's voice tore Tony out of his concentration. "May I remind you that your flight to the Tokyo conference leaves in an hour?" Tony swore under his breath and shut off the welding torch.

"Which one is it?"

"The one about nanotechnology, sir."

"Oh, right." Tony remembered. "An hour?" He looked down at himself, noting the dirty t-shirt and hands smeared with oil. "I'll need to make myself presentable, don't I?"

"That would be highly recommended, sir."

"Why do I need to go again?" he asked, already on his way out of the lab.

"You are scheduled to give one of the main lectures," JARVIS informed him. "It would be recommended that you eat something before you leave, sir. You haven't eaten anything since dinner yesterday."

Tony ran a hand through his hair, trying to remember what it had been. He came up blank. "Have someone bring me a cheeseburger. I'll eat it on the way."

"Sir, it is not recommended-" JARVIS began

"I don't care what is recommended. I said I wanted a cheeseburger."

"Very well, sir," JARVIS finally backed off, though he didn't sound terribly happy about it.

"From what I have observed, most Midgardians require food more often than this," Loki spoke up from where he was lounging on the couch, making Tony jump a foot in the air. He had almost forgotten about the demigod's presence.

"I'm not most people," Tony uttered, passing through the living room to go to the shower.

"No, you are indeed not," Loki muttered thoughtfully, but Tony didn't hear him, already halfway across the house by then.

The shower and a shave took him almost half an hour. When he finally emerged from the bathroom, with drying hair that was now blessedly oil-free, he felt like a new man. He chose a random suit from the walk-in closet, shrugging it on with the ease of practice. There were still a few minutes left when he walked back to the living room, knotting his tie as he went.

Luckily for him, Loki was still on the couch, so he didn't have to waste any time looking for him. The demigod did a very satisfying double take when Tony entered, eyes trailing over the engineer's sharply-shaved beard and well-fitting suit. Yes, Tony cleaned up pretty well and he knew it. The effect was usually even more pronounced when one was used to seeing him covered in oil and grease, as Loki lately did. He stopped a few feet from the couch.

"So hey," he began, "looks like I'll be gone for the next three days. The party crew should come here to clean and decorate the place tomorrow and after that the house will be full of people. I've also locked down the workshop. The way I see it, you've got two options: either you can spend a few days somewhere else and come back after the holidays, or you can come to the party. I have to tell you though, it's gonna be one hell of a party. It would be a shame to miss it."

"Really," Loki drawled. "And what do these parties of yours entail?"

"Booze?" Tony shrugged. "Lots of hot women, good music. Food. Dancing. The usual stuff. Anyway, I've gotta run. Think about it, all right?"

Tony picked up a tablet from a nearby table and put on his trademark sunglasses.

"JARVIS, give him Level One Access. If he tries anything, feel free to shoot him."

"As you wish, sir."

Heading to the door, he threw Loki a glance over his shoulder.

"Don't burn down the house."

To be honest, he still felt a little nervous about leaving Loki alone in his house with all his projects, but figured that JARVIS would keep an eye on him. Plus, if the god decided to stay for a bit, Tony would be able to find out what he was doing during the times when he wasn't in Tony's workshop.

Maybe it would even help him figure out why Loki needed the armor so badly in the first place.

* * *

><p>The flight was long and boring. God, Tony had almost forgotten how dull flying to Japan was. Ten hours on a plane with nothing to entertain him but his tablet and the sexy stewardesses. He spent a few hours tinkering with the new Stark Industries designs and going over his lecture notes for the conference, but even that got dull after a while. He stared out of the window for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. Then he got an idea.<p>

He walked back to his private cabin in the back of the plane and took out his phone.

"JARVIS? Can you call Loki for me?"

"Of course, sir." A few seconds later he was greeted by a disgruntled voice.

"Stark, are you aware that I like to sleep sometimes?"

"No, I assumed you were an evil robot from a parallel dimension," Tony said. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, but I was looking forward to resting. What is so important that you must disturb me in the middle of the night?"

"Is it so late?" Tony asked. "I had no idea. I was in the middle of some calculations and then got bored, so I figured I could call you. If it's a bad time, I'll hang up."

There was a beat of silence before Loki answered.

"I suppose I can survive being awake for another hour or so."

"Awesome."

Now that he was actually on the line with Loki, Tony felt a bit at loss. It was one thing to trade banter with the god when they were in the workshop, arguing over best techniques for processing metal alloys, and another to talk to him when it wasn't strictly necessary. Having Loki speaking straight in his ear right now felt strangely…intimate. To distract himself from that thought, he decided to get back to the reason why he had called in the first place.

"So, did you think about the party?"

"It sounds…less dull than other things I could do at the time."

"Does that mean you're going?"

"I'm considering it," Loki drawled.

"So you're going," Tony translated.

"I might as well," he said with false resignation. "However, there is one slight problem with your plan – someone might recognize me. I would hate to be discovered only because you got careless with your safety precautions."

"Yeah, that could be a problem," Tony admitted. "Can't you just disguise yourself somehow?" _With magic, perhaps? A little shapeshifting, maybe?_

"I could, but it might draw even more attention than my normal state of dress. I would not exactly call my full battle regalia inconspicuous."

It looked like Loki was going to pretend that the whole shapeshifter thing didn't exist. _Well_, Tony thought, _two could play that game_.

"So, magical disguises are out," Tony said casually. "We'll have to go old-school, then. Any ideas?"

"A few, nothing very good." Oh, the guy was lying through his teeth, but Tony kept a perfectly straight face. This was actually quite fun. Loki continued: "I do not suppose the response would be very favourable if I showed up at your door wearing a dress."

"You might be surprised," Tony said with a grin, trying to imagine Loki as a drag queen. He was convinced the demigod could totally pull that off. "But hey, I wouldn't be too worried about being discovered. Everyone from SHIELD will be at the Avenger shindig in New York." At least, that was what he hoped. "If you disguise yourself just a bit and keep a low profile, nobody will have a clue about who you are. The people who go to these things are usually young wannabe actors and musicians hoping to get noticed by someone rich and important." Suddenly he got an inspiration. "Hey, that gives me an idea – your hair's pretty long. Do you ever wear it not slicked back?"

There was a cautious pause on the other side of the line. "I have been known to do that occasionally. Why do you ask?"

"If you wear it loose, you can claim to be some obscure rock star from Europe," Tony told him.

"What is a 'rock star'?" Loki asked. Tony could vividly imagine the small frown on his face as he tried to puzzle out the unfamiliar term. "I assume it's not a type of celestial object."

"It's a type of musician," Tony explained. "You guys have bards on Asgard, right? Think of it as a really popular type of bard, who dresses in black leather and sings for thousands of people."

"That sounds…potentially interesting," Loki said cautiously. "Why a bard, though?"

Tony shrugged, even though Loki couldn't see it.

"The most popular rock stars are super famous and make millions of dollars with their music. Music is really popular on Earth, so tons of people try to get famous that way. When you manage to achieve rock star status, you become something like a minor god. You have scores of fans who adore you, everyone wants to get a picture with you, that type of thing. However, because so many people try to become musicians, there's tons of desperate wannabes who never make it to the top. There are so many of them that nobody can possibly know them all."

Tony reached for a glass of brandy and took a sip before continuing.

"When you're at the party, you can drop the name of any made-up band and the people here will gobble it up because they're so desperate to pretend that they're hip. Just invent a fake name, put on a pose and nobody will think twice about questioning it because hey, you're at Tony Stark's party. I don't invite every random nobody I meet."

"You seem very familiar with this particular scheme. Is this something you've done before?" Loki asked curiously. Tony had no idea how he had figured that out.

"Actually, yeah," Tony admitted, grinning at the memory. "When I was in my twenties, before I grew the goatee and became so recognizable, I made a hobby out of crashing random celebrity parties and pretending to be some obscure artist. I would put on a wig and some weird clothes and spend the evening talking about modern art or funk music with some wide-eyed C-list actress. It was hilarious."

"They never recognized you?"

"Oh they did, once or twice." Tony's grin grew wider. "But they usually chalked it up to me being an eccentric billionaire. That's code word for a rich lunatic, by the way. And even when they caught me, nobody ever said a word. I guess nobody wanted to piss off the guy selling guns and guided missiles."

"So," Loki said, sounding way more interested than before, "if I wanted to perform a charade like that here on Midgard, how should I go about it?"

"Well, first you need the right clothes," Tony began. "You've already got the leather pants, so the only thing missing is a mesh shirt or a vest of some sort to go with it. JARVIS can help you look up how the guys from rock bands dress. Slap on some eyeliner, let your hair down and you're good to go. The only thing you need is a fake name and a chosen position in some random European metal band nobody here ever heard about. I'm sure you can make up some bullshit about your career on your own. If you say anything weird and somebody catches on that, just claim you're not familiar with American customs. With the accent you have, you can totally pull that off."

He could just imagine it – Loki dressed up in black leathers, his jet black hair falling freely around his face. It wasn't a bad picture. If nothing else, it was certainly doing some very interesting things to Tony's libido.

"Sir?" JARVIS spoke up. "The plane will be landing shortly."

"Right," Tony said. "Look, I need to go. I'm sure you can put it together on your own. I won't be back till the day of the party, so I guess I'll see you then?"

"We'll see," Loki said.

The call ended abruptly, leaving Tony to stare at the screen of his phone.

"Did he just hang up on me?" Tony asked JARVIS.

"Yes, sir. Mr Loki ended the call."

A second later Tony realized something else.

"Hey, did I just convince Loki to dress up for me?"

"It would seem so, sir," JARVIS confirmed, sounding a little disturbed.

"What the hell am I doing?" Tony muttered, staring out of the darkened plane window.

What the hell had happened to his stay-the-hell-away plan? A part of his brain was still doing its "Danger, Will Robinson!" routine, but the rest was actually looking forward to the party. And now he had managed to convince Loki to dress up in leather and crash his party.

He was so screwed.

* * *

><p>The Japanese conference turned out to be better than he had expected. Apart from giving him ideas for a several new patents, it also provided him with some time away from Loki – something he discovered was desperately needed. The guy had a way of taking up space, worming himself into Tony's life without Tony even noticing. Now, with an ocean between them, Tony finally had the opportunity to take a step back from their whole weird arrangement and look at it more objectively.<p>

The whole thing was utter insanity – from the reason why Tony was working for him at all to the execution, it was all pure craziness. The guy practically lived in Tony's house, for fuck's sake. He had just moved in one day and started hanging around the workshop and eating Tony's pizza and the worst part was that Tony didn't mind anywhere as much as he pretended to. Sure, it had been annoying at first to have his space invaded by the guy who had tried to kill him a few years back, but as weeks passed, he actually started to find the company tolerable.

…well, more than tolerable, if his latest dream was anything to go by. Still, attraction was one thing, survival another. As much as he wouldn't mind a few tumbles in bed with a sexy space wizard, he wasn't sure how the god would react if he tried his usual "thanks, babe, JARVIS will show you the door" routine on him. As much as he had calmed down since the New York attack, there was still something vaguely unstable about Loki and Tony had dealt with enough screaming women in the past to know that sticking his dick in crazy was never a good idea. What was worse, this particular brand of crazy came with actual god-like super powers. He would have to tread very carefully with this one.

Three days passed by in a haze of booze and scientific talk and before he knew it, Tony was on the plane back to the US. It was afternoon already when he arrived back at the Malibu mansion, which gave him just enough time to check if everything was ready for the party. With the time difference between New York and Malibu, the Avengers had been already celebrating for hours before he got even started.

_Well_, he thought as he stepped into the living room of the mansion, _no time like the present_. The house was already decorated with swirls of green and red, random branches of mistletoe hanging around the room. The general lack of snow spoiled the winter atmosphere a bit but hey, it was Malibu. Snow was about as common a sighting here as the Bigfoot.

"Welcome home, Mr Stark," a busty brunette greeted him, offering him a whisky from the tray she was carrying. A few more hostesses milled about, wearing skimpy Santa outfits. It looked like his PA had booked the Ironettes for this gig. Maybe this party wouldn't be so bad after all.

There was no sign of Loki anywhere in the house, which meant that the god had probably taken Tony's advice and gotten hell out of dodge. The only question now was when he was coming back.

The first guests started arriving around eight. Tony had been right in his assessment – most of them were aspiring actors and models from L.A., enthusiastic young souls who hadn't yet been chewed up by the show business industry. Most of them looked like the types who proudly wore their Gucci bags on the street, but in private probably lived on Ramen noodles and despair. After all - who else would come to some random guy's party on fucking Christmas Eve when they could be celebrating at home with their families? Either they were desperate for fame and wanted to capitalize a bit on the prestige of attending Iron Man's party, or they were too poor to afford the plane ticket to visit mom and dad back in Arkansas or Wisconsin or whatever sad shithole they had lived in before coming to L.A.

It didn't take long before the first person spotted him.

"Oh my gosh!" squealed a petite blonde. "You're Tony Stark! You're Iron Man!"

Tony took a deep breath and put on his best party face. "Yep, that's me. How do you like my party?"

Her exclamation drew the attention of several others and before he knew it, Tony was surrounded by people, all vying for the attention. So he entertained them. He had plenty of practice at that – he cracked jokes, told them things they expected to hear and inwardly hated it all with the passion of thousand burning suns. But what was the alternative? Go to New York and spend the evening drinking himself into oblivion under Steve's disappointed gaze? No way.

Eventually he managed to escape to the bar, where he ordered a double whisky. If he had to be at this thing, he could at least spend it in a nicer mood. The DJ played a selection of latest pop songs mingled with Christmas classics and people danced, mingling together all around the room. One would never guess how many semi-famous single people could be found in the L.A. area at Christmas.

All in all, the party looked like a success.

A washed-up movie star ambled up to him at the bar, a Playboy model hanging on each arm. Tony valiantly tried to remember the guy's name. Some sort of 80s action hero, perhaps? Luckily for him, the guy was high as a kite, rambling about his newest movie that nobody had seen, so all Tony needed to do was to nod in the right places and he was set. He was just listening to yet another tale about asshole producers and admiring a random woman's cleavage at the same time when the front door opened and Tony's brain promptly short-circuited.

Loki had certainly taken Tony's advice to heart. He was dressed from head to toe in black, his own black pants and high Asgardian boots paired with a studded black leather vest that made him look like a reject from an 80s hair metal band. His face looked a little different than usual – probably the result of a magic glamour of some sort – the alteration subtle, but just different enough to help him avoid detection by both face recognition software _and_ the one or two SHIELD agents who were no doubt lurking somewhere around the room (Tony wouldn't put it past Fury to send spies to his Christmas party).

The most striking difference, however, was the hair. Instead of being slicked back into the villain hairdo Loki normally wore, it was hanging freely down to his shoulders, framing Loki's face in a waterfall of dark curls. _Who would have thought that Loki had wavy hair?_ Tony thought absently before he shook himself from his reverie. He couldn't be caught staring at the guy. Someone might get suspicious.

"Who is that?" the actress on Tony's right asked, eyeing Loki with interest in her eyes.

"Some musician," Tony said with faked disinterest. "I think he's from Europe."

"Is he?" Yep, that was definitely interest. "I should probably go say hi." She gave Tony a playful smile and set off, swaying her hips to the music as she walked. Tony watched her go, not blaming her in the slightest for her sudden change of interest.

The coked-up actor wandered away with his entourage in tow, only to be replaced by some overzealous director, who was trying to convince Tony to sell him the rights to his life story. Tony ordered another whisky and deliberately focused on arguing with the guy, who prattled on about inspiration and artistic vision. He could almost feel the moment when Loki finally noticed him, the god's gaze pinning him in place like a butterfly under a glass. Tony pretended not to notice, chatting with the director about his ideas for his next movie.

It took another fifteen minutes before Loki managed to tear himself away from his newfound admirers and crossed the room to Tony. The engineer gave him a casual nod, going for the whole "nice to meet you, random stranger" act.

"Mr Stark?" Loki said politely, wearing an uncharacteristically friendly smile.

"Hi," Tony replied "Have we met?"

"I do not believe so, but you may have heard of me," Loki said. "I'm Leif Fríggasson. I play drums in the Ragnarok."

"Oh right," Tony pretended recognition. "That's the metal band, right? Where are you from? Finland?"

"Norway," Loki corrected with a mischievous grin, playing along. "It's a beautiful country."

"So I've heard, but I'm afraid I never had the opportunity to visit," Tony said. "What brings you to California?"

"Work. I'm seeking some inspiration for our new songs."

"Well, you should find plenty of that here," Tony gave him a polite smile. Before he could say anything else, a tall, pretty blonde came up to him and latched onto his arm.

"Mr Stark, would you care for a dance?" She was eyeing him the way starving people look at a steak. It made his skin crawl just a bit but outwardly he grinned, his reputation not allowing him to turn her down.

"Of course," he said with a winning grin. "It's always a pleasure to dance with a beautiful woman." He shot Loki an apologetic look and let the lady drag him to the dance floor.

Once the present women discovered that he was both willing to dance _and_ still single, he didn't have a second of downtime. They came to him one by one, all eager to share a dance with the famous Iron Man. Sometime during all the dancing, one of the ladies managed to maneuver him under a sprig of mistletoe and promptly used the opportunity to give him a long, drunken smooch. Several others took a cue from her and tried to kiss him as well. The only positive thing about the experience was the fact that most of them were fairly good looking, but still, moments like this made Tony briefly regret having built the armor in the first place.

The evening stretched on and everyone got progressively drunker and louder. Tony felt horribly sober in comparison, his last drink having evaporated hours ago. Still, if nothing else, at least the people looked like they were having a good time.

By the time he finally managed to escape from the dance-floor, it was already after midnight. He made a beeline to the bar and ordered another whisky, happy to have a moment of peace. As he kicked back the well-deserved alcohol, he suddenly realized that he was hungry. Luckily for him, the table with refreshments was situated in a nearby corner, so if he managed to cross the room unscathed, he might even discover something to eat.

Random people stopped him twice on the way, but he eventually managed to arrive at his chosen destination. Despite the late hour, the buffet table still had a fairly good selection of various canapés and other assorted finger food. He carefully balanced his plate on the stupid cast, loaded it full of chicken satay sticks and little brioches with foie gras and went to stand by the window. With his back to the party, he could watch the people in the darkened glass without them knowing he was watching them.

The people milled around behind his back, drinking and laughing, but Tony felt strangely removed from the whole affair. Was this what the rest of his life was going to look like? An endless parade of nameless people and pointless parties that he didn't even enjoy anymore? He used to live for this stuff, for fuck's sake! What had changed that had suddenly made him hate it all? Why did he want to throw them all out and go spend the evening with his bots instead? Had he always been like this and just hadn't noticed, or was he just getting old?

He didn't know what it was about Christmas that made him so annoyingly contemplative. Maybe it was the whole spirit of the thing, or the approaching end of the year, which only served to remind him just how much could change in a year. Last year he had stood here with Pepper, enjoying a nice holiday with the woman he loved. Today he had invited a bunch of strangers to spend the evening with him, just to avoid seeing her again. Also, it looked like Rhodey had decided to ditch him after all. That stung.

All right, he needed another drink. This introspective crap was getting seriously depressing. He gave his empty plate to the nearest passing waiter and walked back to the bar to order a glass of brandy. Before he could drink it, however, a silky voice murmured in his ear:

"Looking at you, one would almost believe that you are enjoying this gathering."

Tony turned his head to see Loki leaning on the bar next to him, looking like the very picture of nonchalance.

"Why wouldn't I enjoy it?" Tony said lightly. "It's my party. I'll have you know that I throw the best parties around here. My guests certainly seem to be enjoying themselves." His gaze slid over the merry drunks and several couples making out in the corners.

"Then why do you look like you want to set them all on fire?" Loki asked. Tony avoided his far-too-knowing gaze.

"It's not that bad," he muttered. "The alcohol certainly helps."

"I might know something else that could help." Loki gave him a grin. "Would you care for a dance?"

Tony shook his head. "I'm not drunk enough for this."

"I don't want you drunk," Loki said, turning strangely serious. Tony suddenly found it hard to look away from those green eyes.

"Alright," he finally relented, feeling like he was taking a step towards something much bigger than a number on the dance floor. "Just one dance."

He took Loki's hand and led the god to an empty spot on the floor near the bar. Loki snaked an arm around his waist, taking Tony's right hand in his, which forced Tony to put the left hand that was still in the cast on Loki's shoulder, awkwardly trying to find purchase between all the metal studs.

"It's a good thing everyone here's so drunk," Tony quipped as they started dancing. "If there were any reporters here, the internet would be full of news about my newly discovered gayness tomorrow."

Loki gave the people around them a scornful look. "You Midgardians are so narrow minded in some regards. Nobody would find anything strange about our dance on Asgard."

"Says the guy from a world that doesn't even allow women to fight," Tony shot back. Before Loki could retort, Tony continued: "And Lady Sif doesn't count because she sounds like a badass."

"How did you hear about her?"

"Thor spent a few days in New York when he came back. I managed to drag a few interesting tidbits out of him."

"Such as?"

"The fact that your parents were apparently trying to persuade him to marry Sif, but he rebelled and went for a mortal instead. Is that true?"

"From what I have observed, it seemed that way," Loki said. "Mother certainly spoke a few times about trying to get Thor to finally marry. She was far too interested in seeing both of her sons settle down."

"Wait a moment – _both_?" Tony asked incredulously. "You're married?"

"_Was_ married," Loki corrected. "A long time ago, for political reasons. It didn't last long."

"How come they married you and not Thor?"

"Because the older son is always more valuable," Loki explained, not without some bitterness. "Father needed to secure himself an alliance, but didn't wish to sacrifice Thor to do it."

"That sounds like a dick move to me," Tony said, making Loki smile crookedly.

"Yes, Father's methods have always been rather…questionable."

"So how come your dad isn't pushing Thor to get married now?"

"I was not personally present for it, but apparently he arrived back in Asgard after his reinstatement and professed his undying love for the Lady Jane."

"Didn't they only spend like three days together?" Tony asked. "I've read the SHIELD files – he was only on Earth for a few days before he managed to get back home."

Loki chuckled. "Yes, my brother has always been rather impulsive in these matters."

"And then he ditched her and didn't come back for a year and when he finally did, it was only for the battle in New York." Tony shook his head. "God, if I were her, I would have dumped him ages ago."

"You do seem like the type," Loki remarked.

"No but seriously, what is she doing with him? I've met her a few times. Apart from being quite the looker, she also has one of the most brilliant scientific minds in her field. No offense to your brother, but he isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the box. She's way out of his league."

"Do not forget that my brother is a god. That puts him leagues above her," Loki argued back, but there was a gleam in his eye which suggested that he was enjoying the back-and-forth as much as Tony was. Tony gave him an unimpressed look.

"He's also the guy who thought popcorn must be a form of magic." Tony grinned at the memory. "I mean - what do those two even talk about? Asgardian governance? The composition of his morning cereal? He may have charmed her with his talks about rainbow bridges and magic kingdom in the stars, but once that runs out, they will be horribly bored with each other. Trust me, I have dated my fair share of dumb models over the years. I know how this goes."

"So what do you think will happen?"

Tony shrugged.

"As far as I know, he's living with her in London. It might last a few months, or even years, but I think it's pretty inevitable that they'll break up eventually. Once the infatuation phase passes, she'll discover that she hates that he never cleans up after himself and he'll be annoyed that she doesn't admire his macho hammer waving as much as she used to." He knew that because pretty much the same had happened to him and Pepper. Even though she had known what she was getting into when she started dating him, she still got fed up with him in the end.

"And what if that does not happen?" Loki cocked his head. "What if their love was fated after all?" There was a slight undertone of cynical mockery in his voice that told Tony he didn't believe it, either. Tony replied without missing a beat:

"Then your dad will get annoyed with him for shirking his royal duties and come up with some hackneyed plan to get him back to Asgard. Something that will have Thor chasing around random worlds for a few more years. I doubt she will be willing to wait for another five years for him to stop slapping around frost giants or fire demons or whatever and come back to Earth."

"Mother was supportive of their relationship," Loki persisted. "Even though it's improbable, it is possible that The Allfather would allow it out of respect for her memory. What then?" He seemed to have a lot of fun playing devil's advocate.

"Well, there's still the whole thing with the throne," Tony said. "That may be on a hiatus for now, but he's still going to be king one day. I doubt someone like her, who lives for science and thrives on discovering new stuff, will be content with sitting around on a throne all day and looking pretty. From what I've seen of her, she doesn't seem like the type who would jump at the chance to be a queen."

"What about you?" Loki gave him a curious look. "Would you accept such an offer?"

Tony's eyebrows flew up. "From Thor? No offense, your brother is a good-looking guy, but he's really not my type."

"And if he were?" Loki's gaze seemed to grow in intensity. "What then?"

"Still a no," Tony didn't hesitate for a second. "I already have my own formerly-evil empire to run. I don't need another one."

The look on Loki's face could best be described as a combination of smug and pleased. He chose that moment to look up and his mischievous smile widened.

"Would you look at that," he murmured. "You appear to be under a mistletoe, Mr Stark."

"Am I?" Tony looked up as well. "I guess that's what I get for not paying attention to my surroundings."

"And why were you not paying attention?" Loki asked slyly, moving closer.

"Your choice of clothes is a bit distracting," Tony told him. Which was true.

Did he mention that Loki wasn't wearing anything under the vest? It was just black leather on skin, miles of beautiful, pale skin and the final effect made him look like some glorious, half-mad rock deity.

"Are they?" Loki grinned. "I am glad you approve of my attire."

Tony had half-planned on banging some hot young model after the party was over, but now he could feel all his plans flying straight out of the window. Especially when the alternative looked so good. His restraint gone, Tony made an abrupt decision.

"I like the hair," he said, eyeing the soft black waves. "It's a good look."

"Is it," Loki murmured.

"Yup," Tony said. "Mostly because it allows me to do this." And he reached up with both hands, buried them in Loki's hair and dragged him down for a long, hungry kiss.

There was a triumphant edge to Loki's grin as the demigod leant forward to meet him halfway, but rather than being calculating, the look in his eyes was simply _pleased_. Then their lips finally met and Tony stopped caring about evil plots and hidden motives because Loki was kissing him, devouring his mouth like he had been starving for years and Tony was a feast at a five-star restaurant.

Tony had half-expected that he would have to coax him into it, seduce him into opening up, but instead of being surprised by Tony's sudden change of mind, or coy, like some people would be, Loki dove right in, taking the offered chance to explore Tony's mouth to the fullest.

When they pulled apart a few minutes later, Loki's eyes were burning.

"I take it that you have made your decision at last," he said, sounding a little breathless.

"This is a horrible, _horrible_ idea," Tony said, eyeing Loki's lips. "Probably the worst I've ever had."

"Did that ever stop you from getting what you want?" Loki asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. Tony gave him a grin.

"No. For me that's more of an encouragement than a deterrent. I just wanted to have this on record when it all blows up in my face."

"Then you'd better make the most of it," Loki's voice dropped an octave, putting Tony in serious danger of embarrassing himself in public. To shut Loki up, he kissed him again because _holy shit_, the guy could kiss.

Tony had kissed hundreds of people in his lifetime, some of whom had been incredibly good, but they all still paled a little before this. Loki could set his blood in fire with just a few flicks of his tongue. A little pressure here, a scrape of teeth there, and Tony was hard as a rock, right in the middle of his living room, which was still frustratingly filled with people. For a brief second, Tony had a vision of tossing them all out of the window into the ocean below, airplane-disaster-movie-style.

The look Loki gave him when they surfaced for air some time later was far too amused.

"You look…uncomfortable," he said with a wolfish grin. "Perhaps you would feel better if I helped you remove all those clothes." He ended his sentence with another toe-curling kiss and a subtle movement of his thigh that put just the right amount pressure where Tony needed it most. Tony's mind promptly short-circuited, leaving him scrambling to remember what he had wanted to say. It took him a few seconds to get his brain back online.

"All right, we need to get out of here before I get slapped with a court order for public indecency. There's like a hundred things I want to do to you and none of them are fit for the public eye." He made a strategic pause. "Unless that's what you're into." He gave Loki a look.

The god looked torn between being amused and turned on.

"We can explore that particular option some other time. For now I do not think your guests will miss you if you disappear."

He took Tony's hand and they began their strategic retreat to the master bedroom on the other side of the house. They passed a few stumbling drunks in the corridor and an amorous pair in one of the bathrooms, who had apparently forgotten to close the door in their hurry. Tony ignored all that, pushing Loki into his bedroom as soon as the door came in sight.

The door locked, leaving them in darkness.

"Alone at last."

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Loki's look for the party was largely influenced by the jail scene in Thor 2. Ever since I saw him sitting in that cell with all that long hair, my only thought was "I need that. I must write that, now." Blame my love for metal bands and guys with long hair for that. (Also, the movie Only Lovers Left Alive might be to blame just a bit. Because Hiddles.)

As for Loki's fake identity – it's not meant to be anyone in particular. There _is_ a real Norwegian band called Ragnarok, but Loki is in no way, shape or form affiliated with them. He just chose the name because he found it amusing in an ironic sort of way.

These two may be together now (well, sort of), but the fun is only starting. (Yes, that's what the next chapter is about *wink wink*). What sort of shenanigans will they get into when they join forces? Read on and find out :)

The next chapter will be posted on next Friday, January 16.


	9. A Different Kind of Magic

**Chapter 9 – A Different Kind of Magic**

Summary: _"Well, that didn't take long," Tony quipped when Loki finally recovered enough to open his eyes. Yeah, he was sometimes a dick even in bed. There was a reason why so few people slept with him more than once._

**A/N**: **The first part of this chapter contains a sex scene**. If that's not your thing, scroll down to the first linebreak.

* * *

><p>"Alone at last," Loki murmured.<p>

It was the only warning Tony got before he was pressed against the door and kissed again. Once he got over the initial surprise, he pulled the demigod closer and gave as good as he got. He wasn't used to sleeping with people who took the initiative. Sure, some of the women he'd slept with had been bold, but he was almost always the one who pushed things further.

Not so much here.

Loki devoured him with a single minded intensity that made it a little hard to breathe. He was like a miniature supernova condensed into a pair of lips and hands and Tony couldn't get enough. He tore at the leather vest, sliding it down Loki's shoulders to get to the skin beneath.

So much skin. It had teased him all evening – the promise of flesh barely covered by a piece of black fabric, offering tantalizing glimpses of the lean muscles underneath. In all the weeks Loki had spent in his house, that skin had always been carefully covered by clothes – until now. It was pale and smooth and cool to the touch and Tony needed to get his mouth on it ASAP.

The demigod made a choked gasp when Tony sucked on one of his nipples, his hands tightening on Tony's shoulders. _Oh yes_, Tony thought with satisfaction, there was no way in hell he was going to let Loki have all the fun. He had barely managed to pay any attention to the other nipple before he was dragged into another kiss.

Quick, agile hands divested Tony of his jacket and Loki made an impatient noise when he encountered buttons on the shirt. Instead of trying to painstakingly unbutton them one by one, Loki just tugged at the fabric with both hands, ripping the shirt in half. It shouldn't have been so hot because hey, this was Armani Tony was wearing, but it still made his blood run a little faster.

As soon as the shirt was gone, Loki slid his hands over the muscles on his back and to the front, reaching for the hem of Tony's undershirt. Tony stopped him before he could pull it off.

"No, leave it," he told him in a low voice. He had a major trust issue about letting people see his arc reactor. Even when he fucked his one night stands, he always took the care to keep a shirt over it. The only one who had ever seen it had been Pepper but well…she was Pepper.

Not wanting to think about her right now, Tony pulled Loki into another kiss, reaching for the fastenings on his pants. Loki only hesitated for a second before he let go of Tony's undershirt and applied himself to undressing the rest of Tony instead. The weird hooks on Loki's pants finally gave way and Tony tugged them down, desperate to get the man naked as soon as possible.

"Lights to ten percent," he told JARVIS. The room lightened a little, just enough to let him see Loki's face and the contours of his body. God, that body. It was going to drive him insane.

The pants finally gave way, slithering down Loki's legs to pool at his feet.

_Huh._ Apparently Asgardians didn't believe in underwear. Or maybe Loki had just planned ahead. He didn't know which thought turned him on more.

Loki gave him a knowing smirk and wrapped his arms around Tony's waist, pulling him to the bed. When they hit the edge of the mattress, Tony gave him a little push and had to grin when Loki indulged him, falling back on the bed. He sprawled comfortably against the pillows, utterly comfortable with his nudity, and watched Tony approach with hungry, hooded eyes. Tony tore off his fake cast, eager to be rid of it, then promptly shucked his pants and boxers and crawled after him. He kneeled on the bed by Loki's feet, taking a moment to enjoy the view.

God, the Asgardian looked good enough to eat. He was all long, lean muscle and pale skin and Tony couldn't decide where to touch him first. Loki's green eyes seemed to burn into Tony's, promising a thousand filthy things.

"For a man of your reputation, you are surprisingly hard to seduce," Loki muttered in that low voice of his.

Tony put his hands on Loki's ankles and slowly slid them up his calves, over his knees and thighs, pushing them apart as he moved between them. He kept his hands on Loki's thighs, massaging them lightly as he gave the demigod a challenging look.

"Do I look like I'm playing hard to get now?"

Loki smirked. "No, you just look _hard_." He gave Tony's erection an appreciative look. "That cannot be comfortable. Here, let me help you." He sat up, reached for Tony's cock and gave it a few experimental strokes.

"Better?" he asked cheekily, eyes dancing with mirth.

"Did anyone ever tell you you're a horrible tease?" Tony said, trying to remember how to put together sentences.

Loki's answer was to lean in and give him a slow, filthy kiss full of tongue and unspoken promises.

"It's only teasing if I didn't intend to carry this out." He grazed his teeth over Tony's jaw, then bent to nip at his neck, puffing a gust of breath over his ear as he continued stroking his erection. "However, you can rest assured that I have every intention of having you tonight."

"Really?" Tony pulled back to give him a skeptical look. "And what if _I _want to fuck _you_? What then?"

Loki's smile widened.

"The night is long. I'm sure there will be time enough for both."

"We'll see," Tony shot back, putting his hand on Loki's chest to push him back into the pillows. Loki lay down, watching Tony with challenge in his eyes.

"I hope your reputation is well deserved. I would be a horribly disappointed to find that all the effort I made to seduce you was not worth my time."

Tony knew Loki was only saying it to provoke him, so he did the only logical thing to shut him up – he kissed him again. When he pulled back some time later, the god looked a lot less coherent. _Serves him right_, Tony thought with satisfaction. He tore himself away from Loki's lips and went to explore the rest of him.

He trailed kisses over the demigod's chest, alternating licking and sucking with the occasional scrape of teeth that made Loki's breath catch. He took his sweet time heading downwards, enjoying the exploration.

The erection waited for him, straining proudly against Loki's stomach. Tony gave it an assessing look.

"Hm, no performance issues here, I see," he said, enjoying the glare that Loki shot him.

"Of course not," Loki scoffed, but there was a hint of a grin on his lips.

"Well, I wasn't sure," Tony continued. "After the whole deal with the scepter… It could have been a symbol of other problems." Even as he spoke, he took the demigod's cock in hand, giving it a few experimental strokes. "I should probably make sure everything's in working order."

"And you accuse me of being a tease," Loki said before giving a moan when Tony ran a thumb over the head. "Damn you Stark, would you get on with it?"

Tony shot him a grin.

"Demanding, aren't we?" He bent down and gave an experimental lick. "Let's see if I still remember how to do this."

It turned out that he did. He had last given a blowjob some time in his twenties, but found that he could still remember how to do it pretty well. Maybe it was a bit like riding a bike – once you learn how to give good head, you never forget.

And it was a pretty good blowjob, judging by Loki's reactions. It took only a few minutes before Loki started writhing. Since he showed no inclination of stopping Tony, the man continued, using all the tricks in his book to drive the god crazy. He only pulled off at the last moment and finished him off with his hand. He had never been big on swallowing and besides, Loki was a being from an alien world. What if Tony had an allergic reaction to his come? He would rather not spend the rest of the night in hospital, when the offer of mind-blowing sex with the god of chaos was on the table.

Loki came a minute later, his whole body tensing in pleasurable agony. He fell back into the cushions, panting heavily. With his swollen lips and hair in disarray, he looked nothing like the crazy conqueror who had tried to kill Tony a few years ago. Instead he just looked like a man who'd just had a very satisfying orgasm.

"Well, that didn't take long," Tony quipped when Loki finally recovered enough to open his eyes. Yeah, he was sometimes a dick even in bed. There was a reason why so few people slept with him more than once.

Loki gave him a weak glare.

"You try my patience, mortal." He reclined his head back into the pillow, staring at the ceiling as his breathing slowed down. "It has been some decades since I had anyone in my bed," he said after a while.

Tony gave a low whistle. "_Decades?_ Seriously?" The idea that someone who looked like Loki hadn't gotten laid in half a century was…inconceivable.

"When you live as long as I do, you get bored easily. It gets increasingly more difficult to find anything interesting. Carnal pleasures become…an occasional indulgence, rather than the norm."

"No wonder you were so eager to get in my pants." Tony smirked. "You must have an epic case of blue balls."

"I do not understand that expression." Loki frowned.

"I'll explain it later," Tony said. "Right now, I'm feeling rather…frustrated here." His cock was still hard, hanging full and heavy between his legs. He hadn't paid it much attention while he was blowing Loki, but now it was starting to demand his attention in a most unpleasant way.

Loki pulled him closer with one hand, propping himself on his elbow.

"I am sure I can think of something to make you feel better," he told Tony with a grin and oh, god, that bedroom voice was doing nothing to improve Tony's condition.

"You just came," Tony pointed out, but lay down willingly, scooting closer until they were lying side by side with just a few inches between them.

"Have I mentioned that Asgardian stamina is vastly superior?" Loki said smugly, running a hand over the muscles of Tony's abdomen.

"Is it?" Tony asked, interested. "I guess that answers my question of why Jane hasn't broken up with Thor yet."

The next second found him flat on his back with Loki looming over him.

"Do not mention my brother's name while we are in bed together," he growled, giving Tony's neck a light, warning bite. The demigod moved a bit, pinning Tony to the bed with his weight. Tony had to admit that this strength thing was kind of…hot.

"Or you will do what?" Tony asked challengingly, moving his leg in a teasing motion against Loki's rapidly growing erection. He tried not to feel envious about that because holy crap, that was one hell of a refractory period.

"I will make sure there's not a single coherent thought in your mind," Loki whispered in his ear. His hand slid down to take hold of Tony's cock. "I will drive you insane with pleasure."

"You'll have to try a bit harder than that," Tony told him, just to rile him up a little more. "I'm not feeling very satisfied here."

He was rewarded with a hard, punishing kiss that did a very good job of scrambling his mind for a bit. When he gathered his thoughts again, Loki was lying between his thighs, looking at Tony with fire in his eyes.

"Do not fret," he said, "I will make sure you are fully satisfied." He gave Tony's cock a long, languid lick that had had him seeing stars.

"Oh, god, I've unleashed a monster."

Loki gave him a predatory grin.

"You have no idea."

* * *

><p>Tony woke up at half past six the next morning, feeling strangely disoriented. The sky was still dark outside, so at first he had no idea why he had woken up so suddenly. Then he felt a gust of breath against the back of his neck and memories of the night before came rushing back in a flood.<p>

Right. Loki.

He rolled over to look at the god, who was sleeping peacefully on his stomach, head half buried in the pillow. Shit. There was no way Tony could go back to sleep with Loki in his bed. It was bad enough that he had fallen asleep in the first place, but Loki had done his best to tire him out, keeping him awake for most of the night. The alarm clock told him he had only been asleep for a little over three hours, but he felt fully awake now. His brain was back online, running at full capacity, so there was no choice but to get dressed and go back down to see if everyone had left yet.

Tony carefully slithered from underneath the blankets and bent over to pick up his discarded boxers, putting them on as quietly as he could. The shirt he had worn to the party was in tatters, so he left it lying when it had fallen and snatched one of his band shirts from a nearby chair instead. A minute later he was fully dressed in what turned out to be a Metallica T-shirt and a pair of worn black jeans, ready to face the day. Loki was still dead to the world, so Tony let him sleep and slipped out of the room to do a little recon.

To his immense relief, the house appeared to be empty. He did a sweep of all the rooms, but didn't find a single loitering partygoer. It looked like the bouncers had done their job and really made sure that everyone left like they were supposed to. The living room was still a disaster, with empty bottles and dirty plates lying everywhere, but Tony was confident that the cleaning crew would roll in soon and tidy it up. If he didn't count the Asgardian sleeping in his bed on the other side of the house, Tony was completely alone. Thank god for small mercies.

The catering table still had a few sorry remains of yesterday's feast when Tony made his way to it, so the engineer snatched a few canapés from a nearby plate, chewing them as he walked down to his workshop. The bots perked up as always when he walked in, chirping their welcomes and Tony leaned on his desk, taking a moment to finish his breakfast and sort out his mind a bit.

Most of his thoughts were still occupied by memories of the night before. No matter how much he tried to just push them back and focus on something more productive, his mind kept replaying random flashes for him like the world's most annoying pop up ad for porn. Usually he tended to be at least half-drunk during his one night stands, so he rarely remembered more than a few flashes of skin and the occasional hair color the day after, but this time he had been almost entirely sober and hoo boy, did it show. Since the memories weren't covered by a haze of alcohol, they were fresh and crisp and filthy enough to make even a seasoned porn star blush. Captain America would probably suffer a stroke if he saw even a fraction of it.

The fleeting thought of Steve brought Tony back to reality. Right, Avengers. If they ever found out about Tony's little tryst, he would be so fucked. Still, Tony couldn't bring himself to regret his decision. The sex with Loki had been great – some of the best he'd ever had, even. It may not have been a wise decision, but hey, since when was Tony known for those?

Besides – it wasn't like it had meant anything, Tony told himself. Loki would be gone once the armor was finished. If Tony decided to have a little fun in the meantime, it was nobody's business.

With his mind sorted out, Tony could finally focus on his work and it didn't take long before he was fully immersed in his designs and prototypes. The Nanotechnology conference in Japan had given him plenty of new ideas, and there was one in particular he wanted to try out because it could give him the solution for the anti-magic part of Loki's armor. If he could only make the right type of particle accelerator for mixing different elements…

He had no idea how much time had passed, but when he next surfaced from his special brand of creative trance, Loki was standing in the doors of his workshop, watching him. He was dressed once more in his usual Asgardian clothes but the hair was still loose, falling down onto his shoulders in a wild tangle of curls. Tony only gave him a brief glance before he focused back on welding the delicate wires of the machine in front of him.

"Hi."

"You didn't come back to the bed," was the first thing Loki said.

Oh, awkward mornings after. How he loved them.

"Um, no," Tony said. "I got an idea for a new concept and wanted to try it out." Which was mostly the truth. There was no need to mention that he had left because the thought of sleeping next to Loki creeped him out. Some things were better left unsaid.

Loki seemed to sense some of it, though, because he cocked his head a little.

"Why do I have a feeling that you are not telling me the whole truth?" He crossed the workshop slowly, stopping only a few feet from Tony, who was still doing his best to appear casual.

"Even if there _was_ more to it, which I'm not saying there is," Tony said, "what makes you think I'm going to tell you? As far as I'm concerned, my sleeping habits are none of your business."

"They become my business when you share your bed with me," Loki said. "It is not heartening to find that your bedmate couldn't wait to run away from you at the first opportunity." He gave Tony an assessing look. "You could not have slept more than a few hours."

Tony avoided his eyes. "I've slept enough," he said curtly. "I've never been able to sleep much, anyway. Insomnia is a bitch." Inwardly he pleaded for Loki to drop the subject. The demigod, however, was relentless.

"Did you leave because you regret what happened?"

Tony ran a hand over his face, trying to come up with an answer. He hated these talks.

"No," he said, finally meeting Loki's eyes. "I don't regret it. The sex was great. I just have a thing about sleeping while other people are in the room. Call it a trust issue, if you will. It's nothing personal, alright?"

He hadn't slept through the night next to anyone since Afghanistan. Sure, Pepper had been an exception - but then, she was always the exception to everything. After his experience with Obadiah, there was no way he would ever leave anyone alone with his arc reactor when he wasn't awake.

"Stark," Loki gave him a strange look, "did you forget that I have been staying in your house for several weeks now? If I wanted to harm you in any way, the opportunities were countless."

And all right, he had a point, even if it wasn't reassuring in the slightest. Tony had totally forgotten about that. Maybe it was because since his arrival Loki had somehow managed to become part of the general scenery in the Malibu house. For at least two weeks now, Tony had been going to sleep without giving his presence a second thought. In fact, due to his irregular sleeping schedule, he had slept in the house countless times when Loki had been awake and yet the god had never tried to tamper with his arc reactor. It was one of those things you don't even realize you're doing until someone points it out to you.

Tony's expression must have been interesting, because it made Loki smile faintly.

"You did not even think about that, did you? The people around you are just an annoying background noise to you, akin to flies. You only start to notice them if they get too close." He stepped closer, crowding Tony against the workbench. "Tell me, Stark, is this close enough for you?"

"I didn't say it was rational," Tony shot back, but he made no move to push Loki away. The god propped his hands on the table on either side of Tony's hips, bracketing him with his body.

"If you have trouble sleeping, I am sure I could find something that could tire you out," he gave Tony a smirk, his voice turning playful.

Tony found himself seriously tempted for a moment, before he found his resolve to gently push Loki back.

"Maybe later," he said. "I'm in the middle of a new idea right now and I want to finish it first. It's for your armor, by the way, so don't you dare say that I'm not giving it enough attention." He gave Loki a pointed look. "And as for you, I distinctly remember giving you more than enough _attention_ last night." His mind helpfully supplied him with a memory of himself begging sometime around round three. "By your own admission, you have managed to survive decades without sex. I'm sure a few hours won't kill you."

He had never thought he would turn down an offer of free sex with an attractive guy, but he really needed some downtime after the night he'd had. Loki was…impressive in more ways than one. It would be a few hours before Tony would be able to sit down again without squirming.

Loki could probably guess where Tony's mind had gone, because his smirk widened, turning smug. He let Tony go, however, stepping back.

"Very well. I assume your fragile mortal form needs some time to recuperate after all the excitement. I will leave you alone then to work on your inventions. If you ever feel the need to…_sleep_," he rolled the innuendo on his tongue with relish, "you know where to find me."

"Yeah," Tony gave him a smile, "I do."

Loki turned to leave, looking very pleased with himself. Tony only hesitated for a second before he made a decision.

"Wait!" he called after him. He hated the talk that was coming, he really did, because it was awkward as hell and no matter how many times he did it, it never got any less awkward, but he felt like he should make one thing clear before Loki got any ideas.

Loki turned with an expectant expression on his face.

"Yes?"

"You know this is just sex, right?" Tony asked carefully. "No strings attached?"

"I am aware," Loki told him. "You need not worry about my delicate sensibilities. I am not some blushing maiden you have to flatter and coax with flowers and gentle words. I do not expect anything from you that you are not willing to give."

"Good," Tony said, relieved. "Glad we cleared that up, then."

"If that is all, I think I will go upstairs and sample some more of those little delicacies. The ones with the pink fish were especially delicious." Loki turned around and walked to the glass wall. Before he could walk out, however, he turned his head and pinned Tony with a gaze.

"A fair warning," he drawled, "I expect to be _thoroughly_ entertained tonight. I would be very disappointed if you felt too feeble to satisfy me."

"Don't worry," Tony shot him a lewd grin of his own. "I never fail to rise up to a challenge."

"I sincerely hope so." Loki walked out, leaving Tony alone with his experiments.

It was a while before Tony could concentrate on his work again.

* * *

><p>"Alright," Tony said a few days later. "I've made a few experiments and managed to come up with a way to incorporate the anti-magic element into the armor alloy. The only thing remaining is for you to test it."<p>

He gestured to the two feet tall rectangular piece of metal that was standing carefully propped near one of the concrete walls. Loki shot the metal plate a curious glance.

"You made a metal compound resistant to magic?"

"Well, we don't know yet if it's resistant to magic," Tony corrected. "It needs to be tested first. Can you help out with that? The Doombot hand is useless for this."

Loki inclined his head. "Very well. What do you want me to do?"

"Can you shoot flames at it? It doesn't have to be anything too fancy – just enough to see if the magic can touch it or not."

Loki stepped closer to the metal plate, aiming his right hand carefully. A few seconds later he sent out a small fireball towards it. The fire travelled through the air rapidly, but before it could touch the metal, it simply stopped mid-air, dispersing into nothingness. Tony fought hard to contain his excitement.

"Well, that appears to the working," he said in a carefully level tone. It was too early for celebrations. There were still more tests to perform. "Let's do the next test." He walked over to the wall and picked up the metal, which was completely cold. Tony raised it in front of his chest like a shield. "Alright, now something less destructive, if you can. Can you conjure up water, perhaps?" Loki gave him a nod. "Awesome. Aim a stream of water at me. I need to see how big the radius of this thing is."

Loki looked a little doubtful but complied nonetheless, raising his hand again. The stream of water from his palm shot towards Tony, but before it could touch the metal, it simply stopped and disappeared again. It was fascinating to watch from up close. Tony admired the neat trick for a moment before remembering that he was supposed to be testing the range.

"Can you aim the water higher? Like, at my head?" When Loki hesitated, Tony gave him a challenging look. "Come on. I bet you've been itching to slap me with a spell for years."

Loki's only answer was an amused smirk. He lifted his hand a little higher…and Tony was drenched in an instant. The god grinned when Tony let out a stream of curses and doused him for a bit longer before he finally took mercy on the engineer, who was now dripping wet. Tony dropped the metal plate, giving Loki a weak glare that was spoiled by the fact that he was grinning too.

"Well, that was interesting," he said as he walked to the little bathroom adjacent to his workshop to get a clean towel. He scrubbed at his hair as he viewed the calculations on the screen, trying to find where he had made a mistake. His clothes were wet, too, but he could deal with that later. "So, we know that the metal repels magic, but only in the immediate vicinity. If I made your armor from this, you would have to be covered from head to toe in the metal, otherwise anyone with a good enough aim could find a soft spot." He shot Loki a look. "I doubt you want to look like a walking metal can."

"No, I do not," Loki said, leaning on a workbench nearby. "I am far too good looking for that."

That made Tony snort. "Yeah, god forbid someone doesn't get a chance to appreciate your prettiness in the middle of a fight. You know, having your face covered isn't that bad. It allows you to laugh at people without them having any idea. Very handy for meetings with Fury."

"I have no doubt about that," Loki said. His eyes swept over Tony's drenched form. "Your clothes are still wet." A playful tone entered his voice as he slowly stalked closer. Tony knew that tone all too well by now and it never failed to make his pulse pick up just a little. "You should probably take them off before you get cold." He stepped behind Tony, sliding his hands below his shirt as he gave his ear a playful nip. "It would be horribly inconvenient if you got too ill to work on my commission."

Tony opened his mouth to suggest that they take a shower together for the sake of expediency, but then remembered that a shower would require him to get completely naked. He still hadn't showed Loki his arc reactor and he didn't plan on doing that anytime soon. There were few positions more vulnerable than being naked in a small glass container with a super-powered alien who may or may not have ulterior motives. He froze a bit, which made Loki pause behind him. Sensing his discomfort, Loki pulled his hands back, his mouth setting into a displeased frown.

"You still do not trust me," he said.

Tony gave a helpless half-shrug. "No, I don't. Sorry." God, this was awkward. "You know what? I'll just…" he made a vague gesture to the house above them, "go and get some dry clothes, ok? I'll be back in a few minutes and we can continue discussing the design."

He made a beeline to the stairs, walking just casually enough to make it look like he wasn't fleeing the scene.

Which he was. He totally was.

This was why he didn't do the whole "relationship" shtick. Relationships required trust and reciprocity and a ton of other things that Tony simply wasn't capable of anymore. He wished that Loki would remember about their "no strings attached" deal and let this little incident slide. The sex they had was great, really (in fact, Tony hadn't had this much sex since his twenties), but he fervently hoped that they wouldn't cross the invisible line from fuckbuddies into something…more. If they ever did, the ensuing clusterfuck would be of cosmic proportions. Literally.

Tony spent a good fifteen minutes upstairs _not hiding_, which consisted mostly of changing his clothes and drinking a glass of whisky to calm down his nerves before he finally ventured downstairs again. He found Loki still present in the workshop, examining the magic-proof metal plate closely. Tony strolled back in in what he hoped was a casual manner.

"So," he said into the silence, "that particular combination of metals may not be the ideal, but it's still a step in the right direction. It does seem to repel magic pretty well." He ended up standing on the opposite site of the workbench from Loki and if he happened to pull a few screens into the air between them, well, it was just for the sake of efficiency.

"How did you accomplish this?" Loki asked in a carefully neutral tone, lifting the metal into the air. Tony swallowed down a sigh of relief. Good, they were back on track, no awkwardness. Thank fuck.

Tony tapped his arc reactor.

"I took the element I use to power my suits and mixed it into the steel alloy I had created previously. It took a bit of experimenting, but I managed to do it eventually."

"What is that metal?" Loki eyed the arc reactor curiously. "The energy it gives out is surprisingly similar to that of the Tesseract, but I have never seen it before. How did you come by it?" He seemed genuinely curious.

"I made it," Tony said, not without a hint of pride. "It's a new element that I invented – or, more precisely, my dad was the one who invented it, but he never managed to actually manufacture it. I was the first to synthesize it and right now, I'm the only one in the world who has it."

Loki looked impressed despite himself. "That is…quite remarkable. I was not aware that this metal was so rare."

Tony shrugged. "It's not, really. Once you know how to make it, you can have as much of it as you want." Which he did. He had a box full of that stuff here in the workshop and another one in one of his secure warehouses. It was enough to power his suits for a thousand lifetimes, so it was hardly a hardship to sacrifice a few of the small triangles for the alloy experiment. After all - if he ever ran out of them, he could always make more. "But if you mean rare as in unique than yeah, it's pretty rare."

He frowned at the screens, studying the readings.

"We will have to find a way to increase the coverage. It would be ideal if the armor produced some sort of a field around it, so you wouldn't have to be covered by it from head to toe." His gaze fell in the circular piece of metal lying on the bench. "Oh, right, there is one more experiment I need to run." Tony picked it up and crossed around the table to stand next to the demigod. "Put this on your forearm and tell me what it does."

Loki gave him a dubious look but took the metal strip, which looked like a thick bracelet. He cuffed it on his hand and promptly his expression turned strange.

"This is…unpleasantly familiar."

"Try to conjure up a flame or something in the hand," Tony told him. "You can take it off right after."

Loki turned his hand palm up, concentrating, but nothing happened.

"It cut off your magic?" Tony asked in fascination, stepping closer to study it. "What does it feel like?"

Loki grimaced. "Like the handcuffs they put on me in Asgard when I stood trial before the Allfather. My magic is still there, right under my skin, but I cannot use it." He looked a little creeped out by it. Tony decided to take mercy on him.

"Alright, take it off. Magic-suppressing handcuffs are cool and all, but that wasn't what I was going for with this. You should still be able to use your magic, even when you're wearing the armor, otherwise it defeats the entire purpose of this." He took the cuff from Loki, who was now rubbing at his wrist, still looking uncomfortable. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," Loki said after a small pause. "It just brought back some…unpleasant memories."

"Sorry about that," Tony said. He turned his back on Loki, giving him a moment to recover. In his mind the wheels were turning furiously, trying to compartmentalize all the possibilities this discovery had just brought him. If nothing else, at least he now had the recipe for anti-magic handcuffs. That was…strangely reassuring, actually. His mood a little improved, he called up a few more screens, trying to find the solution to this new problem.

"So, we can't use this alloy, because it blocks your magic," he said, thinking out loud for Loki's benefit. "It blocks magic coming from outside, but has the unfortunate side effect of blocking your own magic as well. Therefore I have to either come up with something else, or find a way to somehow isolate it, so it doesn't affect your magic." He rubbed a hand over his beard, thinking.

Loki came closer, giving Tony a look. "The ideal state would be if the armor augmented my own magic, as well as blocked anything coming from the outside.

Tony's mind boggled at the implication.

"But that would be a paradox," he turned to face Loki fully, wearing an incredulous expression. "Something like that should be impossible to make, if my calculations are right. And they are always right." His eyes narrowed as an idea occurred to him. "Did you make this up just to fuck with me? You did, didn't you?" He crossed his arms. "You gave me a commission for something impossible, so you can hang around and laugh at me as my feeble Midgardian mind tries to make you something that shouldn't exist."

"No," Loki shook his head with an amused smirk. "I did not come here for the sake of amusement. I fully expect you to create what I asked of you." When Tony continued looking unconvinced, Loki's expression lost some of its smugness, turning more serious. "I am aware of the challenge that creating something like this presents. As far as I know, nobody has ever been able to make anything like this."

"What makes you so sure that I can do it?" Tony asked.

"Because you _create_, in the purest sense of the word." Loki gestured towards the bots, which were milling about in the background. "You give life to your creations. You take metal and wires and give them something akin to a soul. Some would say that is impossible, and yet you have managed it." He gave Tony a look of so much genuine wonder that Tony found it a little hard to breathe for a moment. "You are but a mortal man and yet you have been able to create inventions that could rival those of the gods."

For once in his life, Tony found himself speechless. Loki smiled a little at his expression.

"I do not give this praise lightly," he said. "I am fully confident that you can do what I asked of you." He came a little closer, pinning Tony with his gaze. "Just imagine the possibilities. If you manage to create me this armor, if you do the impossible, nothing will be out of reach after that."

It took Tony a good minute to find his voice again. He had almost forgotten how intense Loki's presence could be.

"Well," Tony said finally, "I've never liked the word 'impossible'. It's so limiting." He gave Loki a cocky smile. "If someone calls something impossible, it only tells me that nobody else has been good enough to do it before. And you know that I've always liked a good challenge."

"So you are not giving up on this?" Loki asked.

Tony shook his head. "Hell no. It might take me a while to figure out, but I'm pretty sure I can do it. I'm awesome like that."

"Don't let this go to your head," Loki said, but he looked pretty happy with his skills of persuasion.

Loki's speech had actually been one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to Tony, but there was no way he was going to admit that out loud. He tried to search for some other words that would convey his appreciation without giving away anything too personal, but found himself coming up blank. Talking about feelings had never been Tony's strong suit. Still, he felt that he should thank Loki somehow, for making Tony feel less like a fuckup.

In the end, the decision was easy. Since Loki was standing less than three feet away, it was a simple matter of taking hold of his tunic and pulling him closer. Loki went willingly, meeting him halfway when Tony tipped his head back. The resulting kiss was…different. That was really the best way to describe it.

Usually they only kissed during sex, or as a precursor to sex - hot hungry kisses full of teeth and tongue to fuel their passion - but this kiss was none of that. It was slow and deliberate - a thoughtful exploration that made Tony feel like all the blood in his body was turning into liquid gold. He closed his eyes and let Loki pull him even closer, taking a few moments to bask in the simple act of intimacy. He could go back to being a wisecracking badass in five more minutes or so, but for now he allowed himself to enjoy it.

The work wasn't going anywhere.

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I'm having such a great time with this fic. Unlike my previous long stories, which were all a slow build towards the big romantic gettogether in the end, this one is of the "sex first, feelings later" variety. I'm trying to challenge the classic fanfic trope of "it gets boring once they get together, because there is no conflict anymore." Sex is not a magical cure for problems. These two aren't even remotely in love - they just have a lot of sexual tension. It's fascinating to write a romance where the two sleep together fairly early on, but still have a ton of issues to work through. Yes, they will fall in love eventually, but first they have to work their way through a mountain of lies and mutual trust issues.

Also, I finally found a pairing where I'm comfortable writing an explicit sex scene (it would feel incredibly wrong to write something like this for the Hobbit), so I may have gone a little overboard in my enthusiasm. I hope nobody minds :D There will be a few more scenes throughout the fic and I'm half-done writing another, shorter story that's pretty much just FrostIron smut, so you can look forward to that.

I'll be done with my exam (and University in general) next Wednesday, so I'll be returning to my regular writing schedule a lot for all the support you continue to give to this story, I really appreciate it :)

The next chapter will be posted on next Friday, January 23.


	10. A Thousand Different Faces

**Chapter 10 – A Thousand Different Faces**

Summary: In which both Tony and Loki try to play a con on each other, with different results than either one expects.

* * *

><p>New Year's Eve came and went and before Tony knew it, it was time to finally get rid of the cast. He couldn't have been happier when JARVIS told him that he could go to the doctor to have it taken off without it looking suspicious. True, he hadn't been wearing it for a month now, but he'd still had to put it on for public appearances and it had made everyday tasks a bitch to do.<p>

But no more. He was free at last.

"So I hear you're back to active duty," Steve said when Tony picked up his call on the way home from the clinic. He had his brand new StarkTech earpiece on, which allowed him to keep his hands free to man the steering wheel. It seemed to be working pretty well so far. He should really get it patented soon, before some leach steals the blueprints from him. Wouldn't be the first time that happened.

"Yeah, I guess so," Tony answered, flexing the wrist on his newly-freed hand. Fake or not, it was good to be rid of the stupid thing at last. "I can't wait to put on my suit again."

Which was the truth. He hadn't been able to wear his suit for five weeks. It was the only thing he hadn't been able to do, because the suit was just too conspicuous and he'd needed to keep his cover. He hadn't gone this long without flying for years - not since he had first made the Mark II. Now he was just itching to put it on and go for a flight.

"It's good to have you back." Steve sounded like he genuinely meant it. "Though it's a shame it took you so long to heal. We could have used your help during that X-Men accident."

Tony grinned, remembering the SHIELD file on it.

"No, you couldn't," he told Steve. "You know that my suit is practically useless against Magneto. I would have just spent the whole fight stuck to some random piece of metal while you tried to take him down."

"Still, you could have provided some support. At least as a distraction." And was that a joke Steve had just made at his expense? Will wonders never cease.

"Hey, it's not my fault Magneto hates Christmas," Tony protested, but he was chuckling anyway, because the image of a grumpy old man in a cape crashing the Avenger party was just hilarious. "Anyway, my suit is almost repaired, so if there's an emergency, feel free to call."

"Will do," Steve promised. "Welcome back, Tony."

"Yeah," Tony said. "Thanks."

He hung up the call and pulled into his garage, leaving the car by the entrance. Right now he only had eyes for his suit, which was standing proudly by the display cases, fully restored to its former glory. Loki was nowhere to be found, so Tony just walked up to it and let the armor snap into place around him, enveloping him with the familiar smell of metal and electricity.

Tony didn't even wait for JARVIS to run all the diagnostics - as far as he was concerned, the computer could do that just as well during the flight. The moment his faceplate snapped into place, Tony activated the thrusters and sped out of the driveway, happy to finally be in the air again. He hadn't even realized how much he had missed this until he was flying high above Malibu, the cars below nothing but colorful specks on the ground.

He spent a good half an hour in the air, just zooming around the coast and enjoying the freedom before he relented and decided to go back. Loki was in the workshop when he came back, leaning over a desk to examine the Doombot hand. He looked up when Tony flew in, his eyebrows climbing when he noticed the armor.

"Did I miss anything interesting?" he asked as he watched the assembly line take the armor off.

"No." Tony grinned at him, pumped full of joy and adrenaline from the flight. "No world-threatening emergencies. I just went for a joyride because I finally got the green light to fly in the suit."

"Oh. You look…pleased about that."

"Damn right I'm happy," Tony said. "I haven't been able to fly for a month."

Loki frowned a little. "You didn't seem terribly bothered by your temporary limitation."

Tony shrugged. "I found other ways to entertain myself." He shot Loki a lewd grin. "But still, it's about the principle of the thing. Why stay on the ground when you can fly?"

"Why indeed," Loki mused.

Tony waited for the last piece of equipment to be pulled away by the robotic line before he stalked over to the demigod, stopping less than a foot away. He was feeling full of energy, like he usually did after a particularly thrilling flight. Most of the time he channeled that energy into creating new inventions, but Loki's presence in the room gave him a different idea

"Were you doing anything important with that hand?" he asked, completely failing at nonchalance as he propped his arm on the desk next to Loki's hip, moving into his personal space. He could almost see the moment when Loki's mind clicked onto his wavelength.

"No, nothing particularly interesting," he said slowly. "Why?" He leaned back against the table, cocking an eyebrow.

Tony licked his lips, mentally going over a hundred different pick-up lines. In the end he decided with the most straightforward approach. Judging by the interest in Loki's eyes, there wouldn't be much need for persuasion, anyway.

"Do you have any idea how many times I have wanted to bend you over this table?" Tony asked, stepping even closer. He was close enough to see Loki's eyes widen and his breath hitch a little. Yep, the blunt approach seemed to be working just fine for him.

Loki's throat worked a few times as he deliberated his answer.

"No?" he tried finally, his eyes lingering on Tony's lips. "I would not mind hearing about it, though."

Tony stepped forward until they were touching from shoulder to knee, pressing the demigod against the desk. He only had to tilt his head a bit to be able to whisper in his ear.

"Talking would take too long." Slowly, deliberately, he raised a hand and ran it over Loki's chest and down to his belt.

"Why don't I show you instead?"

* * *

><p>A few hours later he was lying on his bed, basking in that pleasant half-awake state that one has after really good sex. Loki had teleported them into the bedroom sometime after the first round, which Tony had had absolutely no complaints about at the time, but now the comfortable mattress was making it hard for him to get up and go back to work. Instead of working on the new tablet design like he had been planning to, he could only lie and stare at the ceiling, his muscles suffused with pleasurable lethargy.<p>

He was almost on the verge of dozing off when he got woken up by JARVIS's voice.

"Sir? You have an event to attend in an hour."

Tony threw the ceiling a half-hearted glare.

"Which one?"

"The Golden Globes Awards Ceremony, sir."

"But I'm not an actor. Or a producer," Tony argued.

"No, but you are a public figure. It has been almost two weeks since you were last seen in public, sir. It would be advisable for you to make an appearance, because some of the media are starting to speculate that you had a mental breakdown."

Tony ran an exasperated hand over his face.

"Let me guess – Perez Hilton?"

"Among others."

He sighed, sitting up a bit. "Why is it always a mental breakdown? What if I had ran off to the Bahamas with an entire team from the Lingerie Football League? Or joined Magneto in his quest for mutant world domination?"

Next to him, Loki stirred. "Where are you going?" he asked, lifting his head a bit from the pillow.

Tony made a face. "To a film awards ceremony, apparently, because otherwise the people of America might start to think I was killed and got replaced with a lifelike animatronic model by bodysnatching aliens." He lowered his legs over the edge of the bed and walked over to the bathroom to freshen up a bit.

It took him less than ten minutes to make himself somewhat presentable. He came back to the bedroom wearing only a towel, but stopped midway to the walk-in closet when he noticed the look Loki was giving him.

"What?" he asked, feeling a little weirded out by the stare.

"You're not wearing a shirt," Loki pointed out, his gaze flitting between Tony's face and chest.

"Oh." Tony looked down to see that yes, he had forgotten to put on an undershirt, which meant that Loki now had a front row view of the arc reactor. Loki was still wearing a strange expression that did nothing to raise Tony's confidence. The billionaire grimaced. "Yeah, this is what it looks like."

He promptly turned his back on the bed and disappeared into the closet, not emerging until most of the shirt buttons were done. Loki was still lounging naked on the bed, but the previous sleepiness was completely gone from his eyes. Instead he looked alert and - what was worse - interested.

"May I see it again?" he asked, rising from the bed to walk over to Tony. He lifted a hand slowly, reaching out to touch the arc reactor, but pulled back when Tony instinctively flinched from the touch.

"Maybe some other time," Tony told him, taking a step back to put on his jacket. "Now I have to go and entertain the masses." He paused for a moment, getting an idea. "It's too bad you can't come with me," he said casually. "I'm sure a minor scandal of some sort would be a huge improvement to the evening I'm going to have."

"I could wear the same disguise I used for your party," Loki suggested.

"Nah," Tony said. "There's gonna be a ton of reporters where I'm going. If you showed up looking like that, you would draw way too much attention. Besides, the rockstar excuse wouldn't hold for very long if you kept showing up with me in public. Sooner or later someone would run a face-recognition scan and you'd be fucked. Better not risk it." He made a deliberate pause. "Well, I guess you'll just have to entertain yourself on your own. I'll probably be gone for most of the night."

He gave Loki an apologetic smile and walked out, heading for the limousine that was waiting for him upstairs. The bait was laid, now he only needed to wait and see whether Loki would take it. The demigod must have been bored out of his mind already. Tony's place was pretty nice, but there were only so many things one could do before they went stir crazy. Nothing like a little shapeshifting to spice things up a bit.

At least, that's what Tony was hoping for. There was still a possibility that Loki would just go hunting or watch TV instead. One never knew with him.

Tony managed to arrive to the ceremony on time for once and waved his way along the red carpet and into the auditorium. The ceremony was long and boring and even though the two lady hosts were doing their best to keep the audience entertained, Tony still wanted to claw his eyes out by the two-hour mark. Thank god it ended soon after that, because he was getting close to making something explode. Instead he suffered through countless handshakes and chit chat, before he could finally move on to the afterparty, which luckily contained booze.

He was drinking his second drink and discussing one of the winning movies with its director when he finally saw her.

She was standing near one of the walls, watching the crowd of actors with a faint, disinterested smirk. Black hair pulled into an elaborate braid served to provide a nice contrast to an attractive face. Her tall, slim figure was dressed in a shimmering silver dress that fit right in with all the glamorous movie stars.

Tony carefully turned away, hiding his grin in a glass of scotch. He wondered what Thor would say if he knew his friend Lady Sif apparently had a second gig as a Hollywood actress.

It had taken him a moment to put a name to the face, because he had only ever seen it in the SHIELD files dealing with Thor's first visit to Earth, but he'd managed in the end, because he wasn't a genius for nothing. Since it was highly improbable that Sif had come all the way to Earth just to crash some random celebrity party, it meant that Loki had finally gotten tired of lying about and decided to come out and play.

Well, two could play that game.

Tony let her be for the moment, focusing back on the conversation. It wouldn't do to show his hand too soon. Over the next hour, he slowly made his way over to her spot. She didn't move around much, preferring to stay back and observe instead, which suited Tony just fine. Thanks to a strategic piece of planning, he managed to accidentally bump into her just as she was passing by, causing her drink to spill just a little.

"I'm sorry." He gave her his most charming grin. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

She paused, raising her eyebrow. "Does that happen often with you?" And oh look, he hadn't even bothered to change the accent.

"More often than it should," Tony said. He offered his hand. "I'm Tony Stark, by the way."

"I know who you are," she told him, showing a hint of teeth as she shook his hand in a firm grip. "There are few people on Earth who haven't heard about you, Mr Stark."

"Good to hear that I'm so popular," Tony quipped.

"I'm not sure if _popular_ is the right word for it," she said, and yeah, that was Loki's trademark snark all right. If Tony had been even the slightest bit doubtful before, now he was certain. Instead of giving anything away, he just shrugged.

"Might as well be one and the same as far as I'm concerned." He gave her a look, pretending to think. "Have we met? I think I might have seen you somewhere before. One of the parties in New York, perhaps?" Hell yeah, this was fun.

She shook her head. "No, you must have me mistaken for someone else. I only moved here recently."

"Oh. Where are you from? You sound kinda British."

Fake Lady Sif barely blinked at the inquiry, staying fully in character as she sipped champagne from her glass.

"I'm originally from Ireland, but my parents travelled a lot when I was little."

"So you've seen the world," Tony said, giving her a slow once over. "Why don't you tell me about your travels over a drink?"

There was a brief flicker of triumph in her eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. A second later she smiled, leaning into him a little.

"Lead the way, Mr Stark."

* * *

><p>An hour and a half later, they were riding a limousine back to Tony's place. For once Tony wasn't using the privacy of the car as an opportunity to make out with his lady du jour. In fact, they had barely kissed once over the entire evening, which was fine with Tony. There was a conversation they needed to have before anything else of interest could happen.<p>

The evening so far had been…quite pleasant actually. Tony had given the "lady" his full attention, smiling and flirting, and trying to see just how long Loki's made-up identity would hold before he gave himself away. Tony had done his best to remain subtle, wheedling information out of him under the guise of romantic interest and trying to trip him up over random tidbits of information, but the guy was frightfully good for someone who had barely spent two months on Earth.

In fact, all this only made Tony grateful that Loki had been half-mad when he had attacked New York. If he'd been fully in charge of his mental faculties, there was no way they could have stopped him. Really, the guy was almost frightfully clever when he wanted to be. Few people were able to lie like this and not get caught.

Tony suddenly felt glad for the contract he had made with the demigod. It had felt limiting at first, and borderline dangerous, but the longer he thought about it, the more useful it seemed - as far as he knew, Loki hadn't killed a single person during his stay in California. There had also been a suspicious lack of explosions, so the magic in the contract really seemed to be working.

He'd been wary of the magic before, but now he was slowly changing his mind - if this was what it took to keep Loki not-homicidal, Tony was fully on board.

The car stopped in front of his house, the driver jumping out to open the door for Tony, who slid out, holding out a hand for the lady.

"Here we are, at Casa de Stark. Shall we?" he said with a smile. She took his hand and stepped out of a car, doing a great show of looking around and pretending surprise.

"This is where you live?"

"Yup." Tony gestured for the driver to go and led the woman into the house. They barely made it inside when she pressed herself against him, giving him a slow, teasing smile.

"So it's really true," she murmured. "You would truly take home anyone." Was it Tony's imagination or did she sound a little…disappointed?

"Not just anyone," Tony gave her a winning smile, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I like people who have a little something special. You know, like an interesting personality, or a great rack…or magic." He gave Loki a look. "So. Are you going to change back now or do you want to have sex like this?"

To Loki's credit, he only blinked a little.

"What are you talking about?" he said, still keeping in character.

"Oh, you're good," Tony said with admiration. "But you can change back now, really. I know it's you, Loki."

A second later the air around the figure shimmered and the woman turned into Loki, who took a step back, frowning at him. Tony released him, curious to see what his reaction would be.

"How did you know it was me?"

"JARVIS told me about your little shapeshifting trick," Tony admitted. "As for me knowing it was you, well, you're not as subtle as you think you are. I knew it was you almost right away, but you looked like you were having fun, so I decided to play along."

"Why stop now?" Loki asked, curious. "You could have had me as a woman and reveal it afterwards."

"Because having sex with you while pretending that you're someone else would be a serious dick move," Tony told him. "I may be an asshole, but I'm not that much of an asshole. No matter what people might say about me."

"But you still spent the evening toying with me." Luckily for Tony, Loki seemed more amused than annoyed by it. "You knew who I was and yet you let me believe that you were ignorant. Why?" He cocked his head, waiting for Tony's answer.

"Because it was fun," Tony said simply. "You were trying to pull a con on me, seduce me and then make a big reveal at the end – or so I assume. I decided to make a game out of it - to see just how far you were willing to go. Turns out that it's a bit further than I'm comfortable with."

"Interesting," Loki drawled, giving Tony an assessing glance. "It has been a very long time since anyone was able to see through my tricks."

"Well, if your normal standard for intellectual company is Thor, it's no wonder," Tony said, making Loki smirk. "No offense to your brother but he does seem rather…gullible."

"Yes, he is." Loki's lips pulled into a grin. "Unlike you, he never failed to fall for my tricks."

Since it seemed that Loki was planning to spend the rest of his evening by basking in his own cleverness, Tony decided to get a drink. He poured himself two fingers of whiskey and leaned on the bar, savoring the drink.

"So, shapeshifting," he said. "How does it work, exactly? Is it just an illusion you put over your normal body, or do you completely change your shape?" He gave the guy a slow once-over. "What little I have seen so far seemed to support the second theory. Those boobs pressing against my chest a few minutes ago have felt pretty real, at least."

"They were," Loki confirmed, wearing a devilish grin. "As much as anything conjured by magic can be real." He followed Tony to the bar, pouring a glass for himself. He had become increasingly familiar with Tony's selection of drinks over the past few weeks. "Your second guess is closer to the truth. I can put an illusion of someone else's face over my own, but the more convincing illusions are achieved by changing the shape of my body."

"How do you achieve that?" Tony wanted to know, his curiosity taking over. Do you simply rearrange the atoms? Or do you borrow some extra ones from somewhere else?" The sheer implications of the magic-induced physical processes made even _his_ mind boggle.

Loki smiled, sipping his drink. "Your approach is far too narrow-minded. Magic works on different principles than your so called physics – it originates from the mind, not the world around you. It works on more levels than just the one perceivable by your meagre senses. It changes your perception along with the world around you. "

"What _is_ magic, exactly?" Normally, Tony would hate all this metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, but since he was trying to construct a weapon against a crazy European magic-wielder, he needed all the help he could get.

Loki took a moment to think.

"Hm, I suppose it would be best described as a type of energy. It is part of the universe, woven into the very fabric of reality. When you wield it, you have the power to bend the reality to your will. There are very few things magic itself cannot accomplish – the only limitations lie in the mind of its wielder."

"So Thor was right when he said magic was simply a more evolved version of our science?"

"Thor has always oversimplified everything, but in this case he is essentially right. Your understanding of magic will be limited by the tools at your disposal and your own prejudice, but if you put in enough effort, you should be able achieve at least partial understanding of what you are facing."

"I should be able to make an anti-magic device, then?" Tony asked. "Something that will work against Doom, even though I don't have any magic myself."

"I believe so, yes," Loki confirmed. "You are a man of remarkable talents. I'm convinced one mediocre magician will not pose much of a problem for you."

"Speaking of remarkable talents," Tony said, "what sorts of shapes can you change into? I've only seen a woman so far, so I assume you can change both into men and women. What else?" He was genuinely curious.

Loki hesitated briefly before answering. "I can impersonate any person of any race or sex, at least superficially. There are probably some subtleties I would not be able to portray correctly without previous study, but my arsenal is still vast. The better I know someone, the easier it is to imitate them."

"So you could walk out of here tomorrow wearing my face and announce that I have decided to live out the rest of my life in a monastery on the moon and nobody would bat an eyelash." Tony didn't know whether to be horrified or impressed.

"Essentially, yes." Loki grinned.

Tony shook his head. "My mind still can't decide whether this is brilliant or creepy as fuck." He shot Loki a look. "Remind me never to piss you off."

Loki's grin widened. "It is good to see that you're finally learning some respect."

"Not respect, self-preservation," Tony corrected. He walked over to the window, thinking about everything he had just learned.

"You know this shapeshifting thing has unlimited possibilities of use, right?" he said after a moment. "You could impersonate anyone. You could commit a crime and pin it on someone else. You could pretend to be the president and make an outrageous speech that would incite a war between nations. You could-"

"How do you think I've been amusing myself all these centuries?" Loki interrupted him. "Asgard can get unbearably dull after a thousand years or so. Igniting scandals is the most fun one can have without getting arrested."

"Right, God of Mischief," Tony remembered. "I guess that particular moniker is well deserved in your case."

"Yes, very," Loki said proudly. "Though my pranks have done little to endear me to the Asgardian populace."

"No, I guess not," Tony said. "You should have tried hitting things with a hammer instead. That seems to impress them."

Loki chuckled. "Yes, it does." He gave Tony an appreciative look. "I must admit, I like the way your mind works. You discover my secret ability and instead of being awed or horrified, or trying to convince me to stop using it, your mind immediately jumps to all its potential uses for corruption. You are far less bound by the Midgardian morals than most humans that I have met."

Tony shrugged, kicking back the rest of his drink.

"I never claimed to be a paragon of virtue. Creative? Yes. Genius? Yes. Borderline crazy? Possibly. Heroic role model? Hell no." He poured himself another drink. "I've been trying to get you to do the bodyswitching trick ever since I found out about it. You're really hard to manipulate, you know that?"

"And how long have you known?"

"Since I broke my hand," Tony admitted. "JARVIS showed me the recording."

"You knew all this time?" Loki asked incredulously. "Did it never occur to you that I might be someone else who is pretending to be me?"

"It did," Tony said. "That was one of my first thoughts. But I watched you for a while and eventually ruled it out."

Loki shook his head, stepping closer. "You're mad," he told Tony, with a mix of disbelief and admiration. "You are completely insane, but I love it."

That was the first time anyone ever expressed fondness for Tony's particular brand of crazy. Tony couldn't help but stare a little.

"You know," he said when he found his voice. "Most people would tell you that you shouldn't encourage me. Things tend to explode when I get creative."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you listen to what other people think?"

Tony gave him a grin. "Exactly."

When Loki stepped in to kiss the grin off his face, Tony didn't do a single thing to stop him. It was actually pretty nice, this casual intimacy they had. They could argue about magic and pizza toppings as much as they wanted, but at the end of the day none of it mattered, really. Tony didn't have to worry about impressing him, or charming him, because Loki was going to hightail out of here once the armor was finished. This way Tony could enjoy their few months to the fullest, because they both knew that their little indulgence didn't mean anything.

And boy, having a steady source of great sex was seriously awesome. Much better than random fumbling one night stands. Tony was going to miss it when this was over.

For now, though, Loki was still here and willing to indulge Tony's whims, just like Tony frequently indulged his. It was no wonder then that Loki looked receptive when Tony pulled back from the kiss and gave him a playful smile.

"Will you show me what you can do?"

Loki's eyes narrowed in mock-suspicion. "If I find that you are doing this to gather information on me…"

Tony couldn't help it – he rolled his eyes. "Please, you've been hanging around my workshop for weeks now. You've seen every single thing I'm working on. If anyone has the information here, it's you. This only makes us even."

Loki still pretended to consider. "My magic is not some circus act to be performed for your entertainment," he said, but it was half-hearted at best.

Tony walked over to the couch and sat down, leaning back comfortably.

"Indulge me. Just this once." He gave Loki his best puppy dog eyes. "You watch me work all the time. It's only fair that I get to look, too."

That seemed to be the breaking point. Loki gave a long suffering sigh as he walked across the floor to Tony, but it was apparent that he couldn't wait to show off. Tony draped his arms over the back of the couch, settling in to watch the show.

And it was quite a show. Loki's transformations were mesmerizing to watch. He took on several different shapes for Tony's amusement, including a few of the Avengers. His rendition of Captain America had Tony in stitches for good five minutes. When he finally recovered, Loki was already back to himself, watching Tony with an amused expression from his comfortable perch on the barstool.

"Oh god," Tony said once he could speak again without laughing. "I can't believe I used to have a crush on that guy when I was a kid."

That made Loki frown and straighten up a bit. "You liked him?"

"My dad used to talk about him all the time. On those rare occasions when he remembered to acknowledge my existence, he usually told me tales about Captain America. I had a bit of a hero worship going on as a kid and I suppose the crush developed from that," Tony shrugged, not embarrassed by his youthful obsession. He stood up to go refill his glass at the bar. "I had a crush on him for years. Then I finally got to meet him in person and any remains of attraction I might have harbored promptly died a swift and shameful death."

"Why?" Loki asked in puzzlement. He seemed weirdly tense, from up close. "He could be considered reasonably attractive by your people's standards, could he not?"

"Yeah, I suppose he's fairly good looking," Tony said, leaning on the bar next to him. "But it's hard to be attracted to someone whose manners remind me of my maiden aunt Beatrice. It makes you afraid to make a single inappropriate joke, or his head might explode from all the innuendo." Tony sighed, shaking his head. "All right, now I'm being harsh on him. The guy is doing pretty well, considering the time period he came from. It's just that he's so repressed, he could give nuns a run for their money. No way I'm ever touching that."

"What if you could?" Loki asked suddenly, wearing a strange expression. Tony would almost believe that Loki was into the idea, if it wasn't for the tight set of his shoulders and way the demigod refused to meet his eyes as he said it. "What if there was a way-"

"Fuck no," Tony didn't even let him finish that thought because _holy shit_, that was hundred kinds of fucked up. "There's no way you're roleplaying Captain America for me. I'm open to a lot of things, but this is just…hell no."

"Very well," Loki said, his face relaxing. "What would you like, then?"

"I was thinking more about the practical uses for this," Tony said, his mind already spinning in other directions. Loki's bizarre offer had singlehandedly managed to kill all his thoughts of sex for the moment (or the nearest future because _Jesus Christ_, he would never be able to look Steve in the eye after something like that).

"Such as?" Loki cocked an eyebrow.

"Well," Tony began, "as a widely beloved public figure, I'm expected to attend tons of events. Parties, fundraisers, balls – as long as there are rich and/or important people in attendance, I'm usually there. You've seen how dull these things can get."

"What does this have to do with me?" Loki asked, but for all his pretended disinterest, he was already leaning forward a little to hear Tony's idea. "It is none of my concern that you have to attend these events."

"That's where you're mistaken," Tony told him, pointing with a cocktail umbrella he had snatched from the nearby stack. "When I'm bored, my work morale tends to hit rock bottom." He gave Loki a look.

"And you expect me to do what? Entertain you? I am not a court jester," Loki pointed out, but it was clear that the idea had caught his interest.

"I can't be seen multiple times with the same person, because the media would go crazy trying to figure out who you are." Tony unglued himself from the bar, taking the floor with a glass in his hand. "Nobody gives a shit about my one night stands, however. Those have stopped being tabloid fodder years ago. If I'm seen with a different person each time, no one will bat an eyelash."

Loki continued to look unconvinced. "What would I get out of it?"

"Imagine the fun you could have," Tony told him, using the same smooth voice that he did for his sales pitches to the board of directors. "You could discover people's secrets, whisper them into the right ear, then step back and watch the show. You could flirt with someone's wife and make the guy fly into a fit of jealous rage, you could push someone into making a drunken scene…" Tony could just imagine it. And, judging by Loki's growing grin, so could the demigod. "The potential for chaos is high."

"I'm listening," Loki said, tilting his head a little.

Tony continued. "We could even turn the shapeshifting into a game – you could change into a random person without telling me first and I would have to figure out who you were."

"What if you guess wrong?" Loki said, crossing his arms. Still, despite the outward show of reluctance, he seemed intrigued. "What if you don't recognize me and try to take home someone else?"

"Well," Tony said, giving him a grin as he walked closer. "I guess in that case you will have to punish me for losing the game."

"Hm." Loki licked his lips. "This game of your sounds intriguing. I am willing to participate, under the condition that I get to choose the punishment for you."

Tony felt his heart speed up a little, adrenaline rising in anticipation at the look he saw in Loki's eyes.

"Looks like I'll just have to do my best to win, then." He crossed the last few feet of space between them, offering Loki a hand. "You've got a deal."

Loki took the offered hand, running his thumb over Tony's knuckles. "I am looking forward to this game of yours."

"JARVIS?" Tony asked. "When is the next party I can go to?"

"The day after tomorrow, sir," JARVIS answered, helpful as ever. "Please try not to cause too much of a disturbance."

"Don't count on it, JARVIS," Tony said, flashing Loki a grin. "So, what do you say we go and have some fun?"

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p>AN: I know it may feel like every other scene ends with them having sex right now, but don't worry, I will move away from that pretty soon. I wanted to establish the base for their relationship before the plot makes a comeback.

In real life news – I passed my exam! It was the last one left, so now I only need to hand in my thesis and I'll be finished with Law School. The best part of all this is that I can go back to writing now, since I no longer have to spend 12 hours a day with my nose buried in textbooks. Once I get over my post-exam exhaustion, I should be back at work on this story (and all the other stories waiting for me on my hard drive).

The next chapter will be posted on Friday, January 30.


	11. Breakthrough

**Chapter 11 - Discovery**

Summary: In which Tony manages to break the laws of physics and scandalize half the country (not at the same time).

* * *

><p>Loki's shapeshifting became a new source of entertainment for them both. Even after half a dozen times, it was still exciting to try and guess who Loki was going to be posing as for the evening. Tony had to admit that it made a great improvement to his usual social schedule.<p>

The game they played was simple – Tony would go to a party alone and Loki would appear sometime during the evening, slipping into the room in disguise. He never told Tony which face he'd be wearing, or even which gender he was going to be posing as, so it was up to the engineer to try and figure it out. Usually Tony managed to spot him right away and they spent the rest of the evening flirting and plotting ways to spice up the event they were on. Other times it took him a little longer to pinpoint the right face, but he always managed in the end.

Once or twice Tony managed to recognize him fairly early on, but pretended not to, just for kicks, and spent the evening flirting with random people instead. The sex when they got home after that tended to be…explosive. Loki had never outright forbidden him from sleeping with someone else, but he always got that narrow-eyed look when Tony flirted with other people. Tony had never been a big fan of possessiveness or jealousy, but he had to admit it was a bit thrilling to have this much power over someone who was essentially a magic-wielding space deity.

They didn't have any sort or official arrangement and in fact hadn't spoken about the thing between them since the first "no strings attached" conversation back in December, but the fact was that Tony hadn't slept with anyone else since the Christmas party. Keeping up with Loki's demands for sex was challenging enough, and the sex was great, so there was no need to fuck anyone else. Besides, Tony was half-convinced they were going to get tired of each other soon enough, so he was resolved to enjoy the ride as much as he could.

Their new shapeshifting game had another unexpected benefit – it made Loki perk up a bit. Tony hadn't really noticed before, too preoccupied with his work, but now that he could see the difference in Loki's moods, it was clear that the demigod had been a bit subdued ever since his arrival. Thinking back on the weeks before his return finally gave Tony the answer he was looking for - Thor hadn't been the only one to lose his mom in the attack on Asgard.

Loki never talked about her and hid his grief well, but sometimes, when he thought Tony wasn't looking, he got a distant, sad look on his face. Tony let him be. If he wanted to share, he would. They rarely talked about anything personal and a dead parent was a super-personal thing in Tony's book, so he figured it was none of his business. Just because Thor had cried his heart out on Tony's couch didn't mean that Loki was going to do the same. God knew Tony had never been eager to talk about Howard and Maria's deaths, either.

All in all, life was pretty good. The only thing that bugged Tony was his lack of progress with the anti-magic field. He had tried everything to block the magic – projecting different wavelengths, creating all kinds of fields – but nothing worked. It was starting to piss him off, because he had never gone this long without figuring out a solution to his problems. He was almost ready to give up, when it finally hit him.

How ironic that a shareholders meeting should provide the source of inspiration for this.

Tony was just sitting at a meeting with the company higher-ups, bored out of his mind. He had already reprogrammed Dummy's new code and finished designing a new circuit board on his tablet and the meeting was still going on.

The head of marketing was droning about sales figures and strategy and it was starting to make Tony's head hurt. The guy was like a living black hole of boredom, sucking all the energy from the room and Tony wanted nothing more than to get out of here and- _Holy shit, that was it!_ The solution for his magic problem.

He stood up at once, ignoring the annoyed looks from the suits in the room.

"Sorry," he told them. "It's an emergency. Gotta run." And he strode out of the room, almost running down the several flights of stairs to his car.

He must have broken more than a few speed limits on the way home, but he couldn't be bothered to care. The traffic cops could just send the speeding tickets to his secretary, like always. The house stood waiting for him at the end of the road and Tony sped towards it, only slowing down when he hit the driveway leading to the garage. He stopped the car inside and jumped out as soon as he could, running to the bench with the anti-magic device.

This was it! He had finally figured out the solution to the anti-magic blocker. Now he only needed to recalibrate the device he'd been working on for the past several weeks and hope like hell that it would work.

Tony was so immersed in his calculations that he didn't even notice when Loki came into the room. He was alerted to his presence when the demigod leaned on the bench next to him. Loki gave him a strange look when he noticed that Tony looked even more manic than usual. To be honest, Tony didn't blame him - he must have made quite the picture in his oil-stained designer suit and with hair sticking in all directions from where he'd been running his hand through it for the past twenty minutes as he worked out the problem.

"JARVIS told me you were back," Loki told him as he moved closer to find out what had caught Tony's attention.

"Yeah," Tony answered distractedly, most of his focus still on the angular black box on the bench in front of him.

"Is something wrong? What are you doing?"

"I think I've got it," Tony announced as he picked the device up, barely containing his excitement. His grin was wide enough to split his face in two, but he didn't care - after all these weeks, he finally had the solution. He felt full of energy and eager anticipation, and only his dignity prevented him from running over to the magic scanners to test the blocker right away. Instead he held himself still with the sheer force of will and ran the last few tests. "I had the idea when I was at the meeting and I had to get home as soon as possible. If I'm right - and I hope like hell that I am - then this should work. It should finally work."

"Is that your anti-magic device?" Loki asked, eyeing the box in Tony's hands.

"Yep." Tony finally managed to tear his gaze from the machine. "Look, I'm going to turn it on in about a minute, see what this bad boy can do. If it makes you uncomfortable, just leave for an hour. I'll manage."

Loki folded his arms. "How would you know it works without my presence?"

"I could test it on the robohand." Tony shrugged, his mind already going over a hundred alternatives. "And if that fails, I can always bully SHIELD into giving me another Doombot. I know that they have a pile of them stashed in some secret warehouse somewhere. I'll probably do that anyway, just to piss Fury off - god, have you ever seen him in his pissy mood? The one where he has to be polite to you, but inwardly he's imagining gouging out your eyeballs and feeding them to SHIELD's ninja dogs? It's hilarious." He paused for a second, trying to remember what he'd been talking about.

"Right, magic blocker. You know, I would probably manage one way or another without you, but hey, if you wanna stay and give me a hand with this, I'm certainly not gonna stop you." He crossed over to his screens and turned on the magic scanners, barely keeping himself from bouncing in place like an overexcited squirrel. "If you wanna help with this, then go over there and conjure up some magic for me. Nothing fancy, a fistful of flames or lightning should be enough to see if it works."

"I am not going to enjoy this experiment, am I?" Loki asked with a hint of humor in his voice, even as he walked to the empty spot on the concrete floor.

"No, probably not," Tony muttered, his attention back on the device. He finished the last few adjustments and put it back together, ready for use. "This might sting a bit," he warned before aiming the device at Loki and pushing the button.

Nothing happened for a second and then all of a sudden the flames in Loki's palms disappeared. The demigod looked at his empty hands in alarm and then straight at Tony, glaring at the box in Tony's hands like it was the embodiment of evil.

"Turn it off!"

Tony would have left it on for longer, but the guy sounded like he was two steps away from full-blown panic. Not wanting to risk causing irreparable damage, he pushed the button again, turning off the anti-magic field. Loki stumbled and slumped back against the nearest workbench, looking like he'd just seen a ghost. He took a shaky breath and raised both hands in front of his face, sighing in relief when a green glow enveloped them. He stared at his hands for a long moment watching the magic dancing around his fingers. It was only when Tony came closer that he noticed that Loki's hands were actually trembling a bit.

"It shouldn't cause any permanent damage," Tony tried to reassure him. "The magic-killing effect should only work when the machine is switched on. Once I switch it off, everything should go back to normal."

"How did you accomplish this?" Loki asked, still sounding a little uneasy. He slowly lowered his hands, giving Tony an incredulous stare. "Never in my life have I felt this powerless."

"What did it do?" Tony couldn't help but ask. He had intended for the device to simply nullify any magic in the room, to negate it, but Loki's reaction suggested it might be something else.

Loki gazed back down at his hands. "I felt my magic being stripped from me, bit by bit, like water running down a drain. It simply…disappeared and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Not even the prison cells in Asgard have anything like this." He walked over to Tony and bracketed his shoulders with his hands, giving him an imploring look. "How did you accomplish this?"

Tony felt a little weirded out that his short demonstration had had such a profound impact, but then he remembered that Loki had had his magic all his life. He was a creature of magic, used to being enveloped by it, to having it serve his every whim. To have such an intrinsic part of oneself taken away must have been pretty disconcerting.

"I finally figured out what I was doing wrong," he explained. "I was thinking of magic as a physical force – a wavelength or a magnetic field of some sort that you emanate when you want to cast a spell. But I was wrong. I was trying to block it, or to create some sort of barrier against it, but it didn't work." He pulled away from Loki's grasp to pull up a holograph of his calculations.

"You said magic was a part of the universe, that it is a sort of an energy that exists independently on anyone, as a creative and destructive force. So that got me thinking - maybe it's not about building a barrier against it, but about negating it. If the energy exists, it can be cancelled out, neutralized. After that it was simply a matter of finding the right way to make a field that kills magic completely. So," he gave Loki an impatient look, "does it work?"

"Yes, it works," Loki confirmed, still looking a little shaken.

"Yes!" Tony did a fist pump. "Fuck yeah, I'm good."

He froze mid-movement, blinking a little as the full impact of what he had just accomplished hit him like a brick, a new world of possibilities opening before him. He had just managed to block Loki. Loki, the Asgardian mage extraordinaire.

"Oh, Doom is going to get his ass kicked so hard." Tony gave Loki a wild grin, feeling exhilarated that all those weeks of work had finally paid off. "Can you imagine his face when I use this on him? It's going to be amazing."

"Less so for him, I imagine," Loki said dryly, but he was starting to smile, too.

"His suits are powered by magic," Tony continued. "He won't be able to do a thing. If this little box can hold in check someone of your caliber, he doesn't stand a chance. I'll need to increase the radius more if I want to use this in the field, but I'm so looking forward to seeing those stupid bots fall from the sky."

"I am sure it will be a sight to behold."

"But still," Tony said, thoughts spinning in a thousand different directions. "If I could find a way to turn his bots against him, it would be even better." He made a distracted motion towards the black box with his hand. "This, this is just physics, nothing mysterious about it once I figured out the right combination of fields, but if I could find a way to turn his magic against him." He took a minute to ponder the possibilities. "Imagine what I could do with that."

"No wonder your enemies fear you." And was that actual respect in Loki's voice? "They would be fools not to."

"Was that a compliment?" Tony turned back to him, raising an eyebrow. "Did you seriously just say something nice about me? The world must be coming to an end."

"It probably will, if you are allowed free reign over it for much longer," Loki said, coming closer. He took the device out of Tony's hands and put it on a nearby bench, then wrapped his arms around Tony's waist and claimed his mouth a kiss that made the engineer's head spin.

Tony had imagined Loki reacting to the anti-magic device in all kinds of ways - anger, fear, mistrust, horror… "Arousal" hadn't even made the top twenty, but hey, if the experiment had managed to put Loki in the mood for some fun, Tony wasn't about to turn him down. The demigod's reaction to the experiment had been a bit unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome. Tony himself was still running high on the thrill of new discovery, so he was more than happy to kiss back, pulling Loki closer by the fabric of his tunic. Still - who would have thought that Loki got off on the idea of Tony being able to restrain him?

_Huh._ There was an idea. Maybe he should save some of the steel alloy from the armor and make a pair of handcuffs instead. That could be interesting.

"Congratulations," Loki murmured against Tony's lips a few minutes later. "You have successfully managed to create a device that can suppress one of the most powerful beings in all nine realms. If you ever use it against me, I will probably have to kill you." His eyes were glittering though, so the final effect made his threat lose some credibility.

"I'll make sure to remember that," Tony told him. "Also, thanks for helping me with this. The hand would have been a lousy substitute."

"Most hands are poor substitutes for my skills." Loki gave him a wicked grin, his hands sliding down to cup Tony's ass.

"And what sort of skills would those be?" Tony asked cheekily, his hands already busy at work with Loki's tunic.

"Should I give you a practical demonstration?" Loki asked as he pushed Tony onto his back on the workbench. Tony just chuckled and pulled him into another kiss.

He didn't get anything else done that day.

* * *

><p>"I hope you're happy," was the first thing Pepper said when Tony picked up the phone a few days later. "You've made the front page of every tabloid in the country."<p>

"Really?" Tony honestly had no idea. "To what do I owe the honor?"

"To the guy you made out with at the Grammy after party." And hoo boy did she sound pissed.

"Oh." He and Loki had had a lot of fun at that one. Apparently they hadn't been as inconspicuous as Tony had thought. "What are they saying?"

"See for yourself."

JARVIS helpfully loaded the pertinent covers for him on his tablet. _**Tony Stark's Secret Gay Affair!**_ read one of them. The pictures underneath were a bit blurry, the faces out of focus due to distance and bad lighting but Tony's signature goatee was still recognizable, just as it was clear enough that the person kissing Tony wasn't a woman.

"Wow, I look pretty good in these," Tony said, just to be a dick.

"That's not the point," Pepper ground out. "I'm facing a PR nightmare here. The stocks have gone down by three points. Couldn't you keep it in your pants for once?"

"Only three points?" Tony asked. "They had dropped a lot more after that incident with me and the Spanish princess."

"That's because she was married," Pepper reminded him.

"I know." That had been one hell of a clusterfuck. "Look Pep, you always knew I played for both teams. I just didn't make it public knowledge."

"Why now?" she demanded. "Why couldn't you keep it private?"

"Why not?" Tony shot back. "Gay marriage has been legalized in several states of the country. I have nothing to be ashamed of."

There was an exasperated sigh on the other side of the line. Tony knew that sigh well – Pepper always made it when she was hanging onto the last of her patience. She fell quiet for a moment, probably counting to ten in her head, but it seemed to have worked because when she spoke next, she sounded a bit calmer.

"So, who is he?"

"Who?" Tony pretended confusion. He could almost hear her clenching her teeth.

"The man you're kissing in those pictures."

"Honestly? I have no idea," Tony said flippantly. It was partially true – Loki never told him who the people he was changing into were. "He was hot and we talked for a while and when he kissed me, I just went for it. I have no idea what his name was."

"Great." If Pepper could kill people over the phone, Tony would be dead by now. "What should I tell the press? They've been pestering me even since TMZ posted the pictures last night."

"Tell them whatever you want." Tony shrugged. "I don't care."

"You should," Pepper told him. "It's your public image on the line here."

Tony sighed. "It's funny how that works. Nobody gave a shit when my company sold guided missiles to terrorists, but god forbid I kiss a guy once. The people here have seriously warped priorities."

"Nonetheless, you'll still have to do something about this."

"Can't I just issue a press statement? 'Yes, Tony Stark likes to fuck dudes sometimes. Ladies are also welcome. If you're interested, call this number?'"

"This is not a joke, Tony," Pepper said.

"I know," Tony replied. "But I seriously don't know what the big deal is. People are idiots. Also, this is boring. I'm going to hang up now." His eyes fell on the Doombot hand and he got an idea. "Actually no, wait. I need a favor."

"Tony-" Pepper's voice could have frozen the Sahara desert.

"No but really," Tony spoke over her. "This is important. I need a Doombot. A functioning one. I only have a hand, but it's not enough. There was a good dozen of them the last time we fought Doom, so SHIELD must have at least one squirrelled away somewhere. I need it. Can you get it for me?"

There was a long sigh from the other side of the line.

"One day, Tony, I'm going to stop putting up with this."

"You already did," Tony reminded her quietly, growing a bit more serious. "But this is purely a friendly favor I'm asking for. I need to figure out a way to shoot Doom out of the sky. The last time I fought his bots, I ended up with a hand in a cast for five weeks." Yes, he wasn't above a little emotional manipulation.

Pepper sighed again. There was a sound of ruffling papers and a few muffled voices before she got back on the phone.

"I'll see what I can do. In return, you are going to make your own press release, because I'm not here to clean up your messes. I expect you to have it ready by the evening today."

"Yes, mom," Tony joked, but inwardly he was glad that Pepper was willing to get the Doombot for him. If anyone could browbeat the SHIELD bureaucracy into submission, it was Pepper. "Anyway, thanks for doing this."

"Try not to cause any more scandals in the foreseeable future, would you? I only have one set of nerves and running the company is hard enough."

"I knew I could count on you," Tony said.

"I seriously don't know why still put up with you," Pepper said, but it was clear she wasn't angry anymore. "I'm going to hang up now. Make that statement or I will sic Natasha on you."

And she hung up, leaving Tony standing in the middle of his workshop with a fond smile on his face.

"JARVIS? Make a press statement for me, will you? Something Pepper will like. We wouldn't want to disappoint her."

"Very well, sir," JARVIS said. "You will have it ready in ten minutes.

"Awesome."

With that taken care off, Tony could go back to work. Before he knew it, he was elbows deep in a new jet engine prototype, taking it apart. He didn't look up until Loki wandered into the workshop, setting a stack of pizza boxes on one of the benches.

"I took the liberty of ordering us some lunch."

"Oh, you got pizza." Tony brightened up. "Awesome."

"You've been working since the middle of the night," Loki said, sitting down on the bench next to the boxes and opening the one on top, which seemed to have ham pizza in it. "I thought you might appreciate some sustenance."

Now that he mentioned it, Tony actually was kinda hungry.

"Yeah, I do," Tony told him. "Let me just wash my hands and we can eat."

He walked over to the kitchenette, where he made a genuine effort to wash at least some of the motor oil off his fingers.

"We made the news, by the way," he mentioned casually as he dried his hands on a towel.

"Did we." Loki cocked an eyebrow, looking only mildly interested.

"Yep." Tony handed him the tablet with the magazine covers and went to get some pizza. "It's all over the internet."

"I hope Thor doesn't see this," Loki muttered, flipping through the pictures.

"Why?" Tony asked through his mouthful of pizza.

"Because he would recognize me. I borrowed the face of one of our- _his_ friends."

"Oh." This was getting better and better. "Which one?"

"An annoying womanizer," Loki said with a hint of disdain. "I thought it would be perfect for the occasion. Let's hope Fandral never hears about this, because it would only serve to make him even more annoyingly smug than he is now."

"Are you telling me that I publicly made out with one of your Asgardian friends?" Tony gave him a look.

"…Essentially yes," Loki admitted.

Tony's eyebrows shot up.

"And what about all the other people you have impersonated? Were they also from Asgard?"

Loki didn't quite meet his eyes, using the pretence of choosing the next pizza slice to avoid looking at Tony. "Most of them were, yes. It is easier to imitate someone you know than to make up entirely new faces."

Tony crossed his arms. "So you're telling me I've basically made out with half of Asgard." He waited for Loki's reluctant nod. "Well, it could be worse," Tony said. "At least you chose people who were hot."

That earned him an amused chuckle and Loki relaxed a bit, reaching for another slice.

"Does nothing truly faze you?" the demigod asked incredulously. "Anyone else would be horrified or uncomfortable."

"Hey, I was the one who came up with this game," Tony reminded him. "If I didn't think I could handle it, I wouldn't have suggested it. Besides, you've got pretty good taste, if your selection is anything to go by. Trust me, kissing a few good-looking strangers is hardly a hardship for me."

"Very well," Loki said, a small smile pulling at his lips as he met Tony's gaze. "We should probably aim to be a little more discreet the next time. It wouldn't do to alert my brother to my presence."

Tony shot him a smirk. "I guess we'll just have to try a little harder." His eyes lit up a second later as a mad, brilliant idea flickered to life in his mind.

"Hey," he said with forced casualness that fooled no one. "Can you do an invisibility spell?"

Loki's answering grin could have powered his Arc Reactor for a year.

* * *

><p>"I got you the Doombot you wanted," Pepper announced over the phone a week later. "It took about a million phone calls and the promise of a new Quinjet for the Avengers, but I managed to convince Fury to give you one of the robots to study."<p>

"Yes!" Tony did a little victory dance, ignoring the concerned glances his bots sent his way. They should be used to his random bursts of madness by now. "You're the best! Remind me to give you a raise."

"I already gave myself a raise," she said dryly.

Tony grinned. "That's the spirit. So, when is it going to arrive here?"

There was a small pause on the other side of the line.

"The Doombot is in New York. Fury refuses to ship it over the states for you, so you will have to come to New York, if you want to study it."

"I could ship it here myself," Tony offered, but he was already suspecting that wasn't an option.

"He doesn't want it out of SHIELD's sight," Pepper said. "He refuses to budge on this. Believe me, I already tried."

"Damn." This news put a bit of a damper on Tony's mood. "Looks like I'll just have to go to New York, then. Can't say I'm looking forward to it."

"Tony-"

"I know, I know, I should talk to a shrink about it. You already told me that like a million times," Tony cut her off before she could say anything. They'd had that particular argument enough times already. "I'll talk to Bruce, ok?"

"He's not a psychologist," Pepper pointed out.

"He might as well be," Tony said. "He's some sort of Buddha Zen master or something. If anyone has their shit figured out, it's him." He muttered a few curses under his breath, trying to juggle a coffee cup, a blowtorch and a box of spare parts all at once.

Pepper must have sensed something, because her tone changed from long-suffering to mildly worried.

"Tony? How long have you been awake?"

Tony paused, trying to remember. "What day is it?"

"Exactly," Pepper said. "You will run yourself into the ground if you don't take care of yourself. I don't have the time to call you every five hours to remind you to eat."

"You don't have to," Tony said. That's what Loki was for - sneakily leaving pizza boxes and containers of Chinese around the workshop for Tony to find and wolf down. "Really, I'm fine."

"If you say so." She didn't sound terribly convinced. "Anyway, I have a meeting in five minutes, so I have to go. Get some sleep. I don't want you accidentally setting yourself on fire again."

"Hey! That only happened once!" Tony protested, but he was smiling.

"Once is still too many," she shot back. "Good luck with the Doombot."

"Thanks, Pep," he told her before she could hang up. "You're the best."

"Yes, I am. Bye, Tony."

He hung up, only to find Loki watching him from his chair in the corner. Tony hadn't even noticed him come in.

"Good news?" he asked.

"Yeah." Tony nodded. "Pepper managed to get that Doombot for me. If I'm lucky, I should be able to finally figure out how they work. The only problem is that I have to go to New York again."

"You don't look very happy about that," Loki said, perceptive as always.

Tony shrugged, trying not to show how much he hated the thought of having to go back to New York. "It's not a big deal, really. I should be gone for a week, two tops. You can use the time to go travelling or something." He turned his back on Loki and started tinkering with a random engine part to avoid looking at him.

"Or I could go with you," Loki offered, taking Tony aback a little.

"That's…not a very good idea. If any of the Avengers wandered in and saw you lurking around the Tower, we would both be in deep shit."

"I have my means of staying undetected," Loki informed him, not the slightest bit concerned. "A few simple illusions should take care of that, should the need arise."

"I'm not gonna talk you out of that, am I?" Tony said, already sensing defeat. Loki could be stubborn at the worst of times. His coming to New York would be dangerous and probably inconvenient as hell for them both, but if he was dead set on coming, there wasn't much Tony could do about it.

"No," Loki announced smugly.

Tony sighed. "All right, help me pack this up. You can't fly on the plane with me, but I trust you know where the penthouse is, right?"

"I do."

"Awesome," Tony said in resignation. "See you in New York."

* * *

><p>New York was the same as ever – loud, smelly, full of cars and people, but most of all it was cold as hell. February had just begun and a new wave of snow had fallen the day before, coating the city in a three-inch thick layer of dirty brown sludge. Tony tried not to shiver as he walked from his private jet to the car. The temperature difference between Malibu and New York was massive and his body was having trouble adjusting to the sudden cold. At least the car waiting for him was nice and toasty, providing a welcome refuge from the biting air outside.<p>

He arrived to the Avengers Tower, only to find the living quarters mostly deserted – apparently, Barton was on a mission somewhere exotic and Steve and Natasha had temporarily relocated to D.C. to be closer to the SHIELD headquarters. Thor was back in London, which only left Bruce, who seemed quite happy to see Tony. They spent Tony's first evening in New York by geeking out in the lab while Bruce shared his ideas on how to reanimate the Doombot that SHIELD had lent them.

The thing was – SHIELD did provide a Doombot for them to study, but it was broken. It had a big dent in the upper part, probably caused by a hit from Thor's hammer. Also, unlike the hand in Tony's Malibu workshop, this was a completely different class of robot – smaller, more compact and with less complex programming – it looked like one of the little bastards who had swarmed Hulk before Tony had arrived on the scene. When Tony had ordered a Doombot, he had wanted one of those Doom replicas, dammit, not a knock off R2-D2. But hey, a shitty bot was better than nothing and since it worked on the same electricity-magic combination as the others, it was as good a starting point as any.

Tony's first step was to take it apart to study the inner mechanics. He needed to know how these things worked before he could do anything else like reanimating it or trying to reprogram it to listen to him. There was a reason why SHIELD stored only non-functional bots – those bastards were fucking vicious. If this little bastard were on, it could tear apart his workshop in a matter of seconds. Tony had to be sure he could contain it before he could even think about turning it on.

As promised, Loki arrived to the Tower two days later, materializing in the penthouse in the middle of an evening. Tony briefly looked away from the Doombot schematics he was studying on the large screen that JARVIS was projecting into the air for him.

"Hey," he greeted the guy, pushing a few wires around on the design. "Malibu got too dull for you?"

Loki gave him a small smile, coming closer.

"Hard at work as always, I see," he said, studying the design. "Is this what you asked them for?"

"Not quite, but it will do," Tony said. "You're lucky, by the way. Bruce is the only one home right now. And no, you can't provoke him," he continued before Loki could get any ideas. "I like my floor as it is. No renovations necessary."

Loki smirked. "I was not planning on that. One encounter with the beast was more than enough for me." He cocked his head. "I assume he is helping you develop the weapon against the metallic creatures."

"Yeah, he is," Tony told him. "He had some great ideas I can use for it. It will be another day or two before I can try putting it together and turning it on, but I think we're on the right track."

"And what happens if you animate it and find out you were wrong?"

"Then I'll hope like hell that I can get to my suit before it kills me." Tony shrugged, unconcerned. "I've fought these things before. Their strength is in numbers. One should be easy enough to handle."

Loki gave him a doubtful look but didn't say anything else. Instead he picked up an apple from the fruit bowl on the coffee table and bit into it.

"How long do you estimate this is going to take you?"

"A week?" Tony guessed. "Maybe two? Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about your armor. This is just a side project, but I want to get it done in case that guy shows up again. It's been over two months since our last fight. He's kept a low profile lately, which is never good. I'm expecting him to show up soon."

"Why? Is he so predictable?" Loki asked.

"I'm releasing a new StarkPhone next week. I made sure to point out how great and advanced it is, totally better than anything Europe can produce. He'll be pissed as hell. If I'm right, he will show up in a few days to kick my ass and brag about how much better he is than me."

"You're baiting him," Loki actually looked amused by the notion.

"A little, yeah." Tony grinned. "It's not my problem that his ego can't handle a little competition."

"He almost killed you last time, and yet you still decide to provoke him." Loki shook his head a little. "You really like to play with fire, don't you?"

"How did you think I ended up sleeping with you?" Tony said, shutting down the screen. "You're a guy who can shoot fire from his hands. You can't get much more literal than that."

"I haven't heard you protesting yet," Loki vanished the rest of the apple, then crossed the last few feet between them and straddled Tony's lap, propping his hands on the back of the couch on either side of Tony's head. He leaned his head down and gave him a long, slow kiss before bending to whisper in Tony's ear "Or are you?"

"Nope," Tony said, lifting his hands to grip Loki's waist. "Totally no protests here."

"Good," Loki kissed him again, a little harder this time. "I would be very disappointed to hear that."

"I bet," Tony said, sliding his hands under Loki's tunic. "Actually, the magic can be pretty handy. Especially for things like teleporting us right into the bedroom." He gave Loki a hopeful look.

The next second he found himself on his back in the middle of his bed, with Loki leaning over him. The demigod was wearing a very self-satisfied smile.

"Like this?" he asked smugly, moving back a little to pull down Tony's pants.

"Yeah, just like that," Tony said before he dragged him into another kiss.

* * *

><p>It took another five days of studying the designs before Tony finally figured out how the Doombots worked. Putting it back together was a piece of cake, the only tricky part was to create the device that would help him turn the Doombots against their creator.<p>

The plan was simple – cut of their power supply first and shut them down, then switch to a new source that would tune them to Tony's signal. He felt fairly confident that he would be able to make them do what he wanted. He just needed to block Doom's signal for long enough to give them the time to switch sides.

He based the new anti-Doom device on his magic blocker, modifying it a little to have it perform two functions instead of one. When he finally put it together, he was hungry and filthy and hadn't slept for three days, but at last he felt like he had made some progress.

Tony decided to activate the Doombot in one of his more isolated labs – if the device didn't work and the Doombot tried to wreak havoc, at least it wouldn't destroy any of his equipment. He had managed to convince Bruce to wait for the results somewhere else, because he didn't want to risk having him Hulk out and tear down half the skyscraper if the test didn't work out. Bruce had been a great help with the experiment, but this particular phase was better done alone.

Or, almost alone. Loki had insisted on being present for the test, wanting to see how Tony would fare. To be honest, Tony didn't really mind. The Doombot made him a little nervous, so having some reinforcements in the workshop with him wasn't so bad.

Tony checked the finished Doombot one last time, making sure to put it in the middle of a large, empty space. He picked up his modified magic convertor from the nearby table and went to stand next to Loki, clearing his throat.

"Well, let's see how this goes."

He nodded at the demigod, who sent out a jolt of lightning from his palm, kickstarting the Doombot. Tony could have done that himself with a modified Tesla coil, but he wanted the bot to have its magic from a different source before Tony cut him off.

It worked.

The bot came alive, lifting up to hover a foot off the ground. Before it could orient itself and attack them, Tony hurriedly pushed the first button on his box, sending out a brief magic-killing impulse. Loki gritted his teeth next to him but didn't say anything. The bot fell down with a thud.

A second later Tony pushed the other button, which was supposed to supply the bot with a facsimile of the signal Doom himself used to control them. The bot beeped back to life, lifting up again. It turned towards Tony, hovering in place.

"Awaiting your orders, Master."

It took all of Tony's restraint not to whoop in victory. He merely grinned, making sure to sound authoritative when he spoke.

"All right, Doombot, your first order is to fly a lap around this room." Better to start off with something easy.

The Doombot lifted obediently and started to circle the room. It had only flown a few feet, however, when it stopped in midair, jerking a little.

"Voice input not recognized. Owner identification failed. Order not completed. Commencing self-destruct protocol in five…four…"

"Shit!" Tony froze, frantically looking around. The damn thing was going to explode in less than three seconds and the nearest metal table he could use as a cover was a good fifteen feet away. There was no way he could make it on time.

"Stark!" Loki shouted. Before Tony could think of other alternative, Loki yanked him to the ground, covering him with his body. He managed to activate some sort of protective magic barrier just as the Doombot exploded, making the whole building shake.

Tony lay on the floor in the aftermath of the explosion, breathing heavily. If Loki hadn't protected him, he would be dead. The demigod was propped on all fours above him, his eyes wide as he looked down on Tony.

"You're an idiot," he told Tony, his voice a little shaky.

"Yeah," Tony agreed for once. "That was…not good."

He would have lain there for a bit longer, just to get over the shock, but he was interrupted by a distant, very familiar roar. He and Loki exchanged a glance, the god going a little pale.

"I think we have a problem," Tony said.

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p>Thank you for all the favourites and reviews you guys keep sending my way! I'm so happy for your continuing support. The lighter chapters are over and from the next chapter on we'll be going back towards the plot again. I hope you like the story so far and will keep on reading. (There are still at least 20 chapters to go!)<p>

Chapter 12 will be posted on next Friday, February 6.


	12. Nightmares

**Chapter 12 – Nightmares**

Summary: In which Tony has to deal with an unexpected crisis. Twice.

* * *

><p>"I think we have a problem," Tony said. It was probably the understatement of the century, but right now he really couldn't care about semantics. Mostly he needed to find the Hulk ASAP, before he smashed his way out of the tower and started destroying half of New York. He pushed at Loki's chest, trying to make him sit up.<p>

"Come on, let me up," Tony said urgently, jumping to his feet as soon as Loki moved back.

"What are you going to do?" Loki wanted to know, following him out of the room.

Tony's legs were a little shaky from all the adrenaline and the shock of almost dying again, but he started running anyway, heading in the direction where he'd last heard Hulk roar. If he was right in his guess, the green guy should still be in Bruce's lab, two floors below them. With some luck they might still find him there.

Loki kept pace with him effortlessly, wearing a disturbed expression. Tony was just about to climb down the last flight of stairs (he didn't trust the elevator to be safe right now) when Loki caught him by the arm, pulling him back to face him.

"What are you planning to do?" Loki asked again.

"I'm going after him," Tony said. "I need to catch him before he destroys my tower."

"You cannot face him on your own. The beast will kill you!"

Tony pulled his arm out of Loki's grip. "I don't have a choice. The faster I get to him, the better chance I have of calming him down and convincing him to stay here."

He started down the stairs, taking two at a time.

"It's madness!" Loki told him, still following. "He will crush you like a worm."

"Well, there's nobody else around to do it, so I have to try anyway," Tony told him. "Wait here. I don't want to piss him off even more than he is already."

Before Loki could protest, Tony slipped around him and went down the corridor, walking a little more cautiously. He could hear the Hulk grunting and smashing things right around the corner, which meant he hadn't left the Tower yet. Good.

On the other hand, it also meant that Tony was about to go face a pissed off Hulk armorless and empty handed. Metaphors about little rabbits facing wild lions and bears suddenly popped into his head.

Tony stopped right outside the door to one of the labs and took a deep breath before he called out: "Hulk? Buddy? Are you in there?"

He got another angry roar in answer.

"It's me, Tony," he continued. "Remember me, big guy? You saved me when I was falling from that portal." He took a few cautious steps towards the entrance. "I'm going to come in, alright? Please don't kill me."

_Please don't kill me_ turned into a mantra in his mind as he carefully peaked around the corner before moving inside the doorway so that Hulk could see him. The guy was standing in the middle of the lab, surrounded by overturned tables and smashed equipment. He paused his rampage when Tony appeared in the doorway, watching the newcomer mistrustfully.

"Hi," Tony said, slowly raising his arms to show him that he wasn't carrying anything. "Sorry for the explosion earlier. I know it scared you. It surprised me, too. I was doing an experiment that went badly."

Hulk watched him for a moment before snorting. "Hulk hate explosions." His fist crushed the microscope that he was holding, bending it beyond recognition, but otherwise he remained still, waiting to see what Tony would do.

"I know, buddy," Tony said, grateful that the green guy didn't look particularly murderous. Bruce had done a great job trying to calm him down over the years. "I'm really sorry about that. Look, can we please get out of this lab? This is Bruce's lab and he won't be happy when he gets back and discovers that you destroyed all of his experiments."

That got him a roar that made Tony's heart skip several beats.

"Please don't do that again. You know - the roaring bit. I've already had a heart attack once and it wasn't pleasant, I really don't need another one."

"Hulk hate experiment!" the green guy announced, glaring at the lab equipment. He punctuated his words by grabbing a nearby stool and slamming it against one of the tables.

"I know," Tony said again. It took all of his willpower to keep his voice even. "But Bruce likes them, remember? He will be sad. So please, try not to smash anything more, you'll make him sad."

All things considered, this was going pretty well. Tony had half expected to get smeared into a wall in the first five seconds. That the Hulk was willing to hold a conversation was pretty good, actually.

Nevertheless, Tony still felt really close to pissing his pants. He had no idea how Natasha did this on the regular. His respect for her grew enormously.

The Hulk was still watching him, so Tony continued speaking, still keeping his hands in the air above his shoulders.

"Hey, how about we walk out of here and go watch some cartoons, all right? I can play you a few reruns of Tom and Jerry, how about that?"

This time the large green face actually brightened a bit.

"Hulk watch cartoons?"

"Yeah, you can watch cartoons, big guy. I've got them right here, you just need to follow me. Can you do that?" Hulk nodded. "And no smashing, please," Tony added, backing out carefully to avoid turning his back on the guy. "I really like this tower, I would hate to see it smashed to bits again."

Slowly, carefully, Tony managed to coax him out of the lab and into the corridor beyond. Luckily for him one of the Avenger common rooms was just a few dozen feet away, so unless the Hulk had already smashed the TV in there, there was a good chance that Tony would be able to get him to sit down and watch the cartoons. Hulk loved cartoons, which the Avengers had managed to discover by chance during one of Bruce's unexpected Hulkouts a few years back. The hardest thing was always to convince him to stop smashing and sit down.

Tony crabwalked his way down the hallway, moving slowly to make sure that the Hulk didn't see him as a threat. He kept his back to the wall and hands in the air, trying to make himself look as small and harmless as possible. From the corner of his eye he glimpsed Loki watching them from behind the corner, but couldn't acknowledge him, because all his focus was on the big green mass of heaving muscles in front of him. Tony tried to make sure that there were always at least ten feet of space between them, but he knew all too well just how fast that guy could be. If he got even a whiff of suspicion about Tony's motives, Tony would be toast.

"That's it," Tony praised him as he backed down the corridor. "We're almost there. If you want, I can even get you some ice cream from the kitchen. You like strawberry, right?" It was times like these that Tony really loved his memory for being able to store all the random crap people said around him

The Hulk nodded enthusiastically. "Hulk love ice cream."

"That's great," Tony gave him a smile, hoping that it didn't look half as terrified as he felt. "That's it," he said again, getting a glimpse of the living room. The room looked undamaged, the TV intact. Thank fuck.

"Come on," he encouraged him, stopping by the large, black sofa. He laid his hand on the backrest, using it as an anchor to keep his legs from giving out. "Do you want me to sit down with you, or should I get the ice cream first?"

"Ice cream!" Hulk ordered, smashing his fist down on the coffee table, which promptly broke into several pieces.

The unexpected movement made Tony jump two feet back and raise his hands again. "What did I tell you about the smashing? All right, let's get you some of those cartoons. JARVIS?" he asked, hoping like hell that the explosion hadn't fucked with his AI system.

"Yes, sir?" JARVIS answered, to Tony's enormous relief.

"Could you play some cartoons for our green friend here?"

"Hulk watch cartoons!" The Hulk followed Tony's order with his own.

"Certainly, sir," JARVIS said, turning the TV on. Five seconds later the theme song for Tom and Jerry started playing and Tony sighed in relief when the green guy sat down on the couch to watch. The sofa sagged a little under his weight, but held, the steel rods inside doing their job of holding the furniture together. Tony had specifically designed it with the Hulk in mind and was pleased to see that it worked. Too bad he was too freaked out right now to be able to admire his feat of engineering properly.

"I'll go get you that ice cream, ok?" he asked carefully, still making sure he was within the Hulk's field of vision. When the guy nodded, Tony turned around and slowly walked to the adjacent kitchen, where he leaned on the nearest counter as soon as he was out of sight, his legs almost giving out from under him.

Jesus Christ, that had been terrifying. Facing the Hulk without the protection of his armor, without the possibility of getting out in a second, was utterly nerve-racking. Tony closed his eyes and took several deep breaths to calm his furiously beating heart, silently counting to twenty. Then he took one last, bracing breath, pushed himself upright and went to fish out the huge steel spoon they kept around for the Hulk in one of the drawers. As he was pulling out three containers of ice cream from the freezer, he suddenly felt intensely grateful that JARVIS kept stock of the groceries. Tony didn't want to imagine the meltdown that would ensue if it turned out that they were out of strawberry ice cream.

He walked slowly back to the common room, making sure to put the ice cream buckets on display.

"Hey, buddy!" he said cheerfully. "Look what I found! Ice cream! What do you want me to do with it?"

"Sit!" The Hulk ordered, leaving Tony no choice but to join the guy on the sofa. He put the buckets and Hulk's spoon on the couch between them and the Hulk immediately picked up one of the strawberry flavored ones, tearing off the lid. "Ice-cream!" he exclaimed happily, making Tony glad that he had basically the mentality of a preschooler. He shuddered to think what would happen if the Hulk ever developed higher forms of intelligence.

Since it seemed that the guy was determined to have Tony watch cartoons with him, Tony just reached for the one bucket of chocolate ice cream he had brought and settled down on the sofa. It usually took about an hour for the Hulk to change back once he had calmed down. Tony hoped like hell it would be soon. The guy might look content now, but it was still super stressful to sit within reach of that huge green hand.

It took almost half an hour before the guy finally started to shrink down. The moment the change started, Tony put away his ice cream and fished out a blanket from underneath the cushions, handing it to Bruce as soon as he changed. After all the years, they were all used to seeing the guy naked, but it was still easier to give him the opportunity to cover up a bit.

Bruce took the offered blanket, wrapping it around himself as he looked around to survey the damage. His eyes slid over the broken coffee table and the empty buckets of ice-cream before finally landing on Tony.

"Some party, huh?" he said with a self-deprecating smile.

"Yeah, you could say that," Tony said, grateful that his friend was back to normal.

"What happened?"

Tony grimaced. "I had an accident and then you had one."

"Oh." Bruce frowned, sorting out his memories. "I think I remember an explosion...?" He gave Tony a quizzical look.

"Yeah, you remember right. The Doombot experiment didn't work out. Turns out he has them rigged against tampering. If someone else tries to control them, they blow up."

"Oh. That's not good." Bruce looked disappointed. "Are you all right?" he asked, giving Tony a quick once-over to make sure he wasn't injured.

"Yeah," Tony said. "I managed to hightail out of there before it blew up, so I'm fine. You had it worse than me."

"I got caught off guard," Bruce said. "I'm sorry you had to deal with him."

"Don't worry about it," Tony told him, "I managed. Your lab is smashed to bits, though."

"Better the lab than your head. It's a good thing the Other Guy likes you."

"Yeah," Tony said. "Thank god for that."

"You did really well," Bruce said, giving him a smile. "He's not an easy guy to handle."

"Takes one to know one." Tony shot him a grin, even if it felt a little forced. "Hey, I think I'm gonna go check out the lab to make sure the damn bot doesn't reassemble itself and kill us in our sleep. You gonna be all right here?"

"Yes. I think I'm going to make myself some tea and meditate for a bit. It always takes me a while to calm down after a change."

"Right. I'll leave you to it, then," Tony said. "If you need anything, JARVIS can let me know."

"I know," Bruce told him. "Thank you for doing this."

"No problem." Tony got up from the sofa and walked out, keeping his legs steady by sheer force of will. Once he was certain he was out of Bruce's sight (and earshot), he leaned on the wall by the staircase and slid down to sit on the floor, letting his head fall back against the plaster.

_Jesus Christ_. That had been terrifying. Probably the scariest thing Tony had ever done, and that was counting the first time he went for a flight in his Mark II suit and almost smashed himself after the armor froze.

Loki was right. He was insane.

Speaking of Loki - the guy suddenly appeared out of thin air and grabbed Tony's arm, teleporting them upstairs into the penthouse. They ended up rematerializing near the bar, so Tony used the opportunity to go and pour himself a strong drink because hell, he really needed one right now. He kicked the first one back then poured a second one. Loki was watching him from a few feet away, looking pissed. Tony sighed.

"All right. You look like you want to yell at me. Go ahead."

"Are you out of your mind?" Loki snarled. "The beast could have killed you the moment you stepped inside the room."

"I know," Tony said with a calm he didn't feel, "but he didn't."

"Is that supposed to be reassuring?" the demigod shot back, giving Tony a sudden flashback to his arguments with Pepper.

"Look." Tony turned to face him fully. "Steve or Natasha would normally be the ones to try and calm him down, but since they are on a mission somewhere, the task fell to me. I couldn't let him wander around New York. He would cause more damage than half of your army combined."

"That still doesn't mean you had to face him unarmed-" Loki argued.

"The big guy hates guns," Tony cut him off. "And threats. Plus, he knows me. If I sent in some random SHIELD personnel, he would have smashed them to bits."

Loki sighed, some of the anger draining out of him.

"Why do you always have to play the hero?" he asked, but it sounded more like a rhetorical question than an accusation.

"Because there's nobody else around to do it," Tony said simply. He drained his glass, setting it on the bar. "Sometimes being the good guy means doing things nobody else is willing to do."

"That does not mean I have to like it," Loki said, coming closer.

"No," Tony told him. "You don't have to like it. You just have to accept it. This is who I am, what I do. I'm not going to change because someone says I should. Believe me, people have already tried that. Nobody succeeded."

"I have no doubt about that. You can be awfully stubborn at the worst times."

Tony gave him a grin. "It's part of my charm."

"Yes, it is," Loki told him. Before Tony could come up with an answer to that, the demigod stepped close to him, pulling him into a tight hug. "Nevertheless," he murmured against Tony's hair, "try not to go near that beast again. I do not wish to see you die by his hand."

"I'll try?" Tony said tentatively, a little weirded out by the sudden affection. Still, the hug was nice, so he lifted his arms and wrapped them around Loki's back in return. "I can't guarantee anything, though."

Only now, when the physical closeness forced him to pay more attention to what his body was doing, he realized that he was shaking a little. Probably a delayed reaction to the explosion and dealing with the Hulk. And all right, the hug was very nice. Plus, he'd probably needed one, after the hour he'd just had. It suddenly occurred to him that he might not be the only one in need of a hug – after all, Loki had been just as surprised by the explosion as he was.

Surely, nobody was going to mind if they hugged for a few minutes longer.

Loki sighed softly, running his hands over Tony's back.

"He has no idea how much he frightens you, does he?" he asked quietly a moment later. He didn't have to specify who he was talking about.

"I think he does," Tony said. "It's probably the reason why he's so nice to me all the time. He doesn't want me kicking him out of the tower." Which reminded him. "Hey, why are _you_ being so nice to me?" he asked, pulling back. Now that he thought about it, the whole deal with a hug was a bit weird.

"Do I need a reason?" Loki frowned. Tony made a step back, breaking the contact.

"No, I guess not," he said, sounding hesitant. "It just makes me feel like you have some ulterior motive, or you're plotting something and want to distract me from noticing."

Affection had always been a conditional thing in Tony's experience – be clever enough, hard-working enough and maybe Father will notice you enough to talk to you about robots for a while. His mother had been distant, too busy with parties and luncheons to pay attention to him, so the occasional absent-minded pat on the head he got from her felt like Christmas. Later, much later Tony had learned that if he smiled long enough at someone, there was a high chance they would sleep with him.

The vast majority of people in his life only spoke to him when they wanted something, which always made him suspicious of the few who claimed to have no ulterior motive. They existed, of course – Pepper, Rhodey, even Steve – but they never bothered to stick around for longer periods of time. To be honest, Tony didn't blame them.

So, all this served to immediately put him on alert when Loki claimed to have no hidden motives for his sudden affection. He was the God of Lies, for fuck's sake, there had to be one, somewhere.

Loki's face fell a little, but he covered it up a second later. "Has anybody told you you're awfully paranoid?"

"Yeah," Tony said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's one of my best traits. Anyway, I need to go check the workshop before the Doombot reassembles itself and kills us all. Thanks for the hug."

And he turned on his heel and left Loki standing there, feeling a bit like a dick for brushing him aside. But what other choice did he have? He couldn't let him get too close.

Nothing good ever happened when people got close to Tony.

* * *

><p><em>The darkness was pressing on him from all sides, making it impossible to see. He was stumbling down a narrow corridor, trying to find his way out of the cave. Every step was a struggle, the heavy Mark I suit weighing him down. There was a faint light at the end of the corridor, but he couldn't reach it. Instead there was gunfire everywhere and the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer.<em>

_He tried to run, but the suit was too heavy on him, so he could only plod along, trying to escape from his invisible pursuers. The more he tried to run, the closer the steps got, but they never came close enough for him to see. His heart was pounding in his chest, the arc reactor going into overdrive to try and compensate for the armor's failing mechanisms._

_Finally, the end of the tunnel was within reach. Tony could see the sunlight pouring through, welcoming him into safety. He felt a surge of new energy pour into his limbs at the sight and ran the last few steps, eager to get out of the oppressing underground caves. The sun washed over his face, reaching out to him. He made the last step, walking out into the sunlight, but the moment he stepped over the threshold, the sunlight disappeared, along with the Mark I suit and the cave. Instead he found himself floating in the same alien space he had seen when he'd flown through the portal made by the Tesseract._

_It was cold and quiet, so quiet, and he couldn't breathe. There was no air and with every breath he tried to take, he was suffocating even further. His lungs burned, his hands were freezing and he could almost feel his heart slowing down beat by beat. Just when he thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, Obadiah Stane suddenly appeared, floating in the air before him. He watched Tony struggle for air, laughing. Then, when Tony felt like he was going to pass out any second, he reached out and before Tony could do anything, he pulled the reactor out of his chest. Again. He weighed it in his hand, the blue light washing over his face as he shot Tony a disdainful look._

_"Who are you trying to fool, Tony?" he asked derisively. "You will never be good enough."_

Tony woke up with a ragged gasp, panting for air. It took him almost a minute to notice that he was clawing at his arc reactor with both hands, tearing his shirt to shreds. Slowly, deliberately, he forced his hands to cease their frantic movements, laying a palm over the arc reactor to convince his mind that it was really there. A second later he realized that JARVIS was talking to him, his voice penetrating the cloud of panic surrounding Tony's brain.

"It's 3:26 a.m. on February 11 and you are currently in New York in your penthouse in Stark Tower. Are you with me yet, sir, or should I continue?"

Tony took a deep breath, trying to calm down a bit.

"Thanks, JARVIS. I'm awake now," he told the AI, trying to ignore the note of hysteria he could hear in his voice.

He slid his legs over the side of the bed and sat up, putting his head in his hands. "So much for sleep." Less than three hours, too. Fuck.

The nightmare had taken him by surprise, but it shouldn't have, really – he hadn't had one for weeks, but New York always brought them back eventually. It had been only a matter of time before he got another one and the incident with the Hulk had been the last straw needed to set it off.

He used to get nightmares regularly after Afghanistan and later the attack on New York, but they had slowed down over the last couple of years. Now he only got them a few times a year and when he did, it was always a variation on the same theme – the cave, the portal, helplessness…

Still, no matter how many times he had them, he never got used to them. They always shook him to the core, preying on his darkest fears. And, with all the shit he'd seen over the past few years, there were more than enough of those.

Tony ran a shaking hand through his hair, trying to pat the bedhead down a little bit. "How are the calculations for the helicarrier project going along, JARVIS? Think it could use some input from me?"

"There is still 8% remaining before the final assembly is complete, sir. No input is necessary at present. There is however the Stark patent that you promised Miss Potts you will have ready by next Wednesday."

"Oh yeah," Tony tried to remember. "The…jet engine, was it? I'll have a look at it."

"Sir," JARVIS's voice came a little softer. "It would be advisable if you talked to someone about-"

"No," Tony cut him off. "I'm not doing this."

"Captain Rogers is currently in the gym. I am sure he would be understanding."

"Steve is back?" He must have arrived just a few hours ago. "Anyway, that's not the point. I'm not talking to Captain America about this. He would tell Fury, who would use it as a handy excuse to boot me off the team."

"Or," a velvety voice drawled behind him, making him jump a foot in surprise, "you could simply try talking to the man who is already in your bed."

"_Jesus fuck_," Tony spun around to look at the half-naked demigod lounging on his bed. "You're here?"

"Where else should I be?" Loki raised an eyebrow.

Tony had gone to sleep late, crawling half-drunk into an empty bed, because Loki had disappeared right after their discussion in the penthouse and hadn't shown up for the rest of the day. As it turned out, he hadn't gone far.

"You weren't watching me sleep, I hope," Tony quipped, trying to insert a little levity into the situation and also to divert attention from the fact that his hands were still shaking.

Loki gave him an incredulous look. "Of course not. I was asleep. Until you woke me up with your thrashing."

"Sorry for that," Tony muttered, turning away. Before he could start to walk away, however, the demigod caught him by the wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?" Loki said, his eyes looking way too alert for such an early morning hour.

"To the workshop, probably," Tony answered, but he didn't try to pull his hand out of Loki's grasp.

"And what are you planning to go there? Stare into space? Try to blow yourself up again?" There was a hint of snideness in his voice that made Tony think that he still wasn't over that Doombot accident.

"I don't know." Tony shrugged, finally shaking off Loki's hold. "Something productive."

He walked over to the wardrobe to get a new shirt, because the one he was wearing had long tears in it that made him look like he had been attacked by a rogue werewolf. When he took the shirt off, he found that he had managed to scratch his skin in several places as well. The scratches weren't deep, but his nails had still managed to draw blood. All right, this needed to be washed off.

With the new shirt in hand, Tony walked over to the en-suite bathroom, splashing some cold water on his face to wake himself up a bit. He dipped a towel on the water and cleaned his chest next, grimacing a little when the swipe of the fabric made the scratches sting unpleasantly. He patted them dry and pulled on the new shirt, intent on finding a pair of pants in the bedroom and spending the rest of the night (and possibly the next two, three days as well) in the workshop.

Tony came back to the bedroom and started looking for a pair of spare pants. Before he could pull them on, however, Loki's voice froze him in his tracks.

"There was darkness when I fell from the Bifrost," he said quietly, drawing Tony's attention. A quick glance revealed that he was still on the bed, reclining against the headboard. "I drifted through space for what felt like eternity. Asgard vanished from my sight, becoming no more than a distant memory. At first there were colours, a thousand stars swirling in their eternal dance, but the longer I fell, the greater the darkness became."

By this time Tony had forgotten all about his plans for getting dressed. He turned to watch Loki as he told the story, but the demigod wasn't looking at him – instead he was staring at the ceiling, his eyes a million miles away. His voice held a vaguely dream-like quality, like he was telling a story that had happened to someone else a long time ago.

"It was dark, and cold." Loki continued. "Colder than anything you can imagine. I am a creature born on a forsaken world of eternal darkness and even my heart froze in my chest from the chill. I was lost, suspended over an endlessness that threatened to swallow me whole. I looked into the abyss and the abyss looked back with a thousand lidless eyes that burned themselves into my brain. I had fallen deep between the branches of Yggdrasil and discovered horrors that were never meant to be seen."

"How did you get out of there?" Tony couldn't help but ask. A shadow crossed Loki's face, his eyes focusing back on the present.

"I was found," he said in a tight voice. "The events of the following months did much to make me wish that I had not been."

And, wow, that was pretty fascinating. It also confirmed some of what Tony had already suspected about Loki's motives both for the attack on New York and his sudden desire to have an armor that would make him invincible. Outwardly, he didn't show anything, dropping the pants onto the floor.

Instead of leaving the room as he had planned, Tony walked over to the large window. Loki had just told him a hugely personal thing, so it was only fair that he reciprocate. Still, he didn't have to look at him while he did it.

Tony gazed out at the pulsing city below, grounding himself in the familiar sight of life. He clasped his hands together behind his back, trying to assume a comfortable pose. The darkness in the room almost helped him believe that he was alone when he started speaking.

"I don't get the nightmares much. Well, not anymore, anyway, and when I do, they tend to be pretty predictable, really." Maybe Loki would get bored and let it drop.

"Tell me about them," Loki said. Or maybe not.

Tony took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice even and unaffected, but his left hand was gripping his right wrist with enough force to bruise it a bit.

"Sometimes I'm back in Afghanistan, being drowned in a barrel of water. The more I struggle, the more water I swallow, until the live wires in my chest touch the surface of the water and electrocute me. Sometimes they cut out my tongue and I choke to death on the blood. Other times someone tears out the wires from my chest and I slowly bleed out before going into cardiac arrest, locked away in a corner of some filthy cave dozens of feet underground.

"Sometimes it's not Afghanistan, but New York – I don't get to the bomb in time and it explodes and wipes out the city, or I fall out of the tower and smash against the sidewalk." He lifted a hand, tangling it in the fabric of his shirt over the arc reactor. "Today I escaped from the cave, only to fly through the portal and into the space, where I slowly suffocated." There was no need to mention Obadiah, because that was a can of worms he really didn't wish to open right now.

Tony turned his head, only to find Loki watching him intently. "Have you ever seen the space on the other side of the portal?" Tony asked him. "It's so cold there."

"I have seen it, yes," Loki said slowly. He looked up, meeting Tony's eyes. He didn't have to say anything more – all the horror of that place was written deep in his gaze. Tony suddenly didn't want to know how long Loki had spent there. He himself had almost gone mad just from his brief visit through the portal. He couldn't imagine staying there for hours, days, weeks. It was a small miracle that Loki was still capable of forming coherent sentences after all that.

"Come back to bed," Loki said after a minute or so, offering a hand to Tony, who took it without hesitation. He let Loki pull him on the mattress, lying down on his side so that the demigod could press himself against his back, wrapping an arm around his waist. They had never touched much outside of sex, but after the day and night they'd just had, he suspected he wasn't the only one who could use a little human contact. Even if this contact wasn't strictly speaking human.

Loki flicked his fingers and the covers rose from where they'd ended up tangled in the foot of the bed, covering them both neatly.

"I'm not sure I will be able to fall asleep again," Tony confessed into the darkness. Loki moved even closer, burying his nose in Tony's hair.

"You have been awake for more than three days in a row," Loki said. "You need to rest. As do I," he added quietly.

"All right," Tony conceded, settling a little more comfortably into the pillow. Hell – if he didn't manage to fall asleep in the next hour, he could always sneak out and go back to work. But even as he thought that, he could already feel his muscles getting heavy, his mind slowing down.

The last thing he heard before his brain finally shut down was a soft whisper in his ear.

"Sleep. You're safe here."

And for the first time in months Tony slept through the night.

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p><span><strong>AN**: I hoped you liked this chapter, guys, because it's one of my personal favourites. It was one of the most fulfilling to work on and I enjoyed writing every line.

My work on this has slowed down a bit, because I'm battling a minor burn-out, but chapter 18 is almost finished. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up my writing pace before I run out of finished stuff to post, because I would hate to leave you guys hanging. Your feedback helps a lot. I always get a huge grin whenever there's a new comment on this, so thank you for supporting me! I really appreciate it :)

Chapter 13 will be posted on next Friday, February 13.


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